Trump Pardons Crypto Chief Who Helped Launch His Stablecoin

Binance co-founder Changpeng Zhao assisted Donald Trump’s family with the launch of its stablecoin, one that could yield tens of millions of dollars annually. On Thursday, Zhao received a pardon from the Republican president.

Zhao pleaded guilty in 2023 to failing to maintain an effective anti-money-laundering program. His exchange facilitated transactions for the military wing of Hamas, hackers and money launderers, and let some customers trade with residents of Iran in contravention of US sanctions, prosecutors said. Between 2018 and 2022, Binance allegedly processed at least 1.1 million transactions that violated sanctions, worth about $898 million.