Analyzing the CZ pardon case: What impact does the US pardon system have on the cryptocurrency industry?

On October 23, the White House officially announced that President Trump had exercised his presidential pardon power to pardon Binance's former CEO, Changpeng Zhao. This event caused a huge uproar in the cryptocurrency community, with some expressing confusion and surprise about the event itself, while others reflected on its future impact on the cryptocurrency industry. Today, the Sa Jie team will discuss the US pardon system and see how it functioned in the Changpeng Zhao pardon case. II. The Power Flow Behind Changpeng Zhao's Pardon After gaining a glimpse into the US pardon system, the Sa Jie team hopes to explain how this system functioned in the case of Changpeng Zhao's pardon by Trump. Let's turn our attention back to 2023. Against the backdrop of tightening global cryptocurrency regulations, the U.S. Department of Justice filed criminal charges against Changpeng Zhao and Binance, primarily for violating the U.S. Bank Secrecy Act, mainly concerning their failure to establish an effective anti-money laundering (AML) and customer knowledge verification (KYC) system. Faced with the charges, Changpeng Zhao reached a plea agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice, personally paying a $50 million fine, while Binance paid a settlement of up to $4.3 billion. In April 2024, the U.S. Federal Court in Seattle sentenced Changpeng Zhao to four months in prison. After serving his sentence, he left the United States and did not return to the position of CEO of Binance. On October 23, 2025, Trump exercised his presidential pardon power to pardon Zhao Changpeng, reigniting widespread attention to this previously concluded legal case. This exercise of presidential pardon power by Trump was a typical example of voluntary exercise of the power, rather than an application by the offender. Furthermore, the reasons and motivations for exercising this pardon were entirely determined by Trump himself, and no procedure or institution could restrict the exercise of this power. So, what specific effects did Trump's pardon of Zhao Changpeng have? First, Zhao Changpeng has already served his full sentence (four months in prison), so a pardon will not reduce his imprisonment. Second, the $50 million fine he paid in the plea agreement will not be returned by the US government due to the pardon. Third, the substantial impact of the pardon is mainly reflected in the restoration of his industry access qualifications, i.e., a "restoration" effect. This is because the US Bank Secrecy Act stipulates that individuals with criminal records are generally prohibited from participating in the management of regulated financial institutions or establishing cooperative relationships with US financial institutions. Following the amnesty, this restriction will be lifted, allowing Changpeng Zhao to re-enter the crypto finance industry, including serving as an executive at fintech companies and resuming business dealings with US financial institutions.