180 days before Zhao Changpeng was pardoned

At midnight on October 23, 2025, Zhao Changpeng, the richest Chinese crypto investor, was announced to have received a presidential pardon from President Trump of the United States.

According to public information, President Trump previously told his advisors that he sympathized with Zhao Changpeng’s claim of facing “political persecution in the United States.”

However, just a year ago, on April 30, 2024, Zhao Changpeng was experiencing the darkest moment of his life: he was stripped naked, subjected to a humiliating body search, his buttocks exposed, and then locked in a cold cell. His cellmates were muscular men with tattoos all over their faces and patterns carved on their heads [1].

In the federal court in Seattle, Zhao Changpeng, wearing prison clothes, pleaded guilty to his crimes. This man, known as the "richest Chinese," voluntarily chose to pay a $4.3 billion fine and stated in front of the media, "I'm choosing to pay a political fine." If someone had told him back then that he would not only be pardoned by the US in a year but also be able to return to China, and that the cold stares and beatings in the Seattle jail cell, along with the $4.3 billion political fine, would all be wiped out, he would probably have cursed inwardly, what kind of black humor is this? The signal regarding Zhao Changpeng's pardon was that his release would begin on September 17, 2025. On that day, CZ suddenly updated his Twitter profile, changing "ex-@binance" back to "@binance." This, in a way, indicated that his return to Binance was finalized. Meanwhile, in October, two major US "compliant trading portals" signaled their intentions almost simultaneously: Coinbase, a cryptocurrency listing platform, and Robinhood, a mainstream brokerage regulated by the SEC, both launched trading of BNB. This marked the first official entry into the mainstream US financial system for the platform coin from the Binance ecosystem founded by Changpeng Zhao. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced the pardon, emphasizing, "The Biden administration's war on cryptocurrency has come to an end." Let's rewind to the 180 days leading up to the pardon. When Changpeng Zhao, the richest Chinese and founder of Binance, was on the brink of "political pardon," what was he doing? In the spring of 2025, a long-lost sense of bustle filled the air of Victoria Harbour, and a photo quickly went viral.

To others, this is just a group photo of a few bigwigs in the cryptocurrency world, but in the eyes of those in the know, this scene itself is a signal. Eight years ago, China banned all ICOs and trading platforms, prompting Binance to rush overseas. Zhao Changpeng became the "person least likely to return to China." Eight years later, he reappears in this photo. This is his opening statement to reconnect with local capital and institutions. The host of this gathering, Li Lin, was the founder of Huobi, once one of the world's top three trading platforms. Three years ago, he sold the company he founded to Justin Sun, who was also at the dinner. After the dinner, the person who had the most contact with CZ was Kong Jianping, who stood beside them. Kong Jianping was once the co-chairman of the board of directors of the well-known mining machine manufacturer Canaan Inc. In 2020, he founded Nano Labs and served as its chairman. He is also a director of Hong Kong Cyberport and a member of the Hong Kong "Task Force for Promoting Web3 Development". He was even appointed by the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government to serve as a member of the tribunal [2]. Two months after the party, Kong Jianping announced that he would build a $1 billion BNB treasury, aiming to hoard 5%-10% of the circulating supply and package Binance platform currency BNB into a "US-listed company." CZ's tweet personally retweeted the post, and market sentiment immediately ignited. The stock price soared, with an intraday increase of 107%+. Zhao Changpeng emphasized that he and the entities associated with him "did not participate in this round of financing." However, they "still support it very much." From then on, Kong Jianping could be seen behind the scenes at most of Zhao Changpeng's public speaking events in Hong Kong. Four months later, when Zhao Changpeng returned to Hong Kong for the second time, he was no longer just a "mystery guest" at a Binance event. Instead, he arrived with a clear agenda: first, he officially announced his partnership with Huaxing Capital before the event; second, he finalized the integration with OSL afterward. This coordinated approach signaled that his path to landing in Hong Kong was becoming increasingly clear. The story of Huaxing Capital shares many similarities with Binance: a mixture of glamour and isolation. Founder Bao Fan was once a powerful figure in investment banking, orchestrating historic mergers like Didi and Kuaidi, and Meituan and Dianping, and investing in Circle, the largest publicly listed stablecoin company. However, in February 2023, Bao Fan suddenly disappeared, and Huaxing became a sensitive name in the capital market. While its investment banking business remained operational, with its founder in custody, it remained in a state of flux: traditional finance hesitated to fully trust it, while emerging internet capital markets viewed it as doomed. At the end of August 2025, Binance officially announced its partnership with Huaxing Capital. However, before Huaxing Capital's partnership with BNB was finalized, a subtle coincidence occurred. On August 8, 2025, Caixin reported that Huaxing founder Bao Fan had been "released," concluding a two-and-a-half-year investigation into his disappearance. Just three weeks later, Huaxing announced a $100 million investment in BNB and the launch of a compliant fund in partnership with Changpeng Zhao's family foundation, YZi Labs. Bao Fan's wife, Xu Yanqing, who is also the current chairperson of Huaxing's board of directors, attended the BNB ecosystem's fifth anniversary event as a guest speaker. Furthermore, Changpeng Zhao and Huaxing also implemented a seemingly unassuming initiative: promoting the compliant listing of BNB on a virtual asset trading platform licensed by the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission. Just 12 days later, OSL, Hong Kong's first licensed trading platform, announced the launch of Binance's platform coin, BNB, becoming the fifth crypto asset approved for trading on a licensed exchange in Hong Kong. As Hong Kong's first licensed trading platform, OSL is backed by its parent company, BC Technology, a licensed fintech group listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. OSL itself holds one of Hong Kong's first virtual asset trading platform licenses, offering both custody and brokerage services and a network that connects directly with local brokerages, ETF custodians, and institutional distributors. This company's uniqueness within the industry is believed to be related to the financial background of its early management. Its largest shareholder, holding a 25.43% stake, originally came from a traditional brokerage firm and later ventured into crypto. He is also the founder of the Bitget trading platform, and has seamlessly integrated compliance with the capital markets. Zhao Changpeng's return to China is a story of coincidence and manipulation, piece by piece, completed through capital and politics. In the 180 days leading up to his pardon from the US President, Zhao Changpeng's seemingly scattered actions actually served a single goal: to re-establish the legitimacy of CZ's return to China. At an event at the University of Hong Kong, Zhao Changpeng said, "When I left mainland China four years ago, I thought I'd never return to the core of the Chinese-speaking world. But standing in Hong Kong today, I clearly know that my previous wanderings were just a prelude; the real story has just begun." Some may think this is just polite talk, but once you get to know the story behind it, you'll realize it's likely heartfelt. In July 2017, Binance launched in Shanghai. Two months later, China banned all ICOs and trading platforms, forcing CZ and his team of more than 30 people to evacuate. Over six weeks, they migrated data from Alibaba Cloud to AWS and arranged visas for engineers who had never been abroad. Like a makeshift expedition, they arrived in Tokyo. At the time, Japan seemed like an ideal safe haven, with the government already legalizing virtual currencies. So Binance rented an office, where a dozen or so people sat, and it became its "global headquarters." The 2017 bull market surged, sending Bitcoin soaring from $3,000 to $19,000. In just five months, Binance became the world's leading exchange by trading volume. During that period, they worked almost non-stop, and registrations skyrocketed to the point where they were forced to shut down all new accounts. But the tide quickly turned. In early 2018, scammers used fake Google ads to steal investors' Binance accounts and funds. The Japanese Financial Services Agency suddenly tightened its regulations, issuing a direct warning in March against Binance's unlicensed operations in Japan. The regulatory cold shoulder was more terrifying than the hackers themselves, and CZ packed his bags and left Tokyo once again. After retreating from Tokyo, CZ placed his bets on Malta in the Mediterranean. In 2018, Prime Minister Muscat coined the slogan "Blockchain Island." Changpeng Zhao then partnered with the local government and announced that Binance's global headquarters would be located there. Within three months, the team had expanded to employees from 39 countries. However, two years later, the Malta Financial Authority issued a cold statement: Binance had never been registered. This back-and-forth, with Japan's cold shoulder and Malta's reneging, forced CZ to simply announce that Binance would no longer seek a headquarters. In September 2021, this "headquarterless model" began to play a significant role in regulatory oversight. In 2021, a rival trading platform sued Binance in the United States, with a class-action lawsuit accusing Binance, CoinMarketCap, and Changpeng Zhao. This was a legendary situation: a subpoena could find the company, but the "headquarterless" model could not find an address, ultimately requiring the pursuit of the founder. The plaintiff's lawyers hired a private investigator, a retired Marine, to track down CZ. The investigation spanned Asia, Europe, and the Middle East, scouring flight data, business registrations, and social media. Months passed, yet nothing was found. The detective's report finally concluded, stating, "We made significant efforts to track Changpeng Zhao, but his movements were virtually untraceable." The lawyer even suggested serving the subpoena directly through Twitter, given CZ's daily presence there. Of course, the judge rejected this proposal. His wanderings were merely prelude. His headquarters could disappear, his passport could be changed. Soon, however, Changpeng Zhao would face a more daunting challenge: when Americans pointed the finger at his Chinese ancestry, what would his response be? In the global power game, origins come first, followed by passports. As for his abilities, they often become mere talking points. From a US prison to a US presidential pardon, Changpeng Zhao's dedication to so-called "compliance" has always been "more than just" compliance. At the end of 2022, FTX, the second-largest US exchange, collapsed, leaving a massive funding gap due to losses. Seven months later, the US SEC began prosecuting Binance's CZ for illegal operations, issuing a hefty $4.3 billion fine by the end of the year. Outside the courtroom, the power play in Washington never ceases. The Democratic-led regulatory storm has made CZ a perfect target: a Chinese entrepreneur who controls half of the crypto world, yet is suspected of violating anti-money laundering laws and sanctions regulations. The prosecutor's indictment accused Binance of "facilitating illegal activities," and CZ's background—born in China and having spent his early years in Shanghai—provided him with the cheapest and most effective entry point for attack. On November 24, 2023, a trending post on Reddit, a social media platform, dominated the crypto search trend. The thread debated whether Binance could truly afford the $4.3 billion fine, comparing it to FTX's $6.8 billion deficit. Many American netizens even suggested that the government was "squeezing" Binance to fill the gap in the US crypto industry. However, money can only solve accounting problems, and questions about its origins remain a constant presence.

At a hearing, U.S. Congresswoman Stacey Plaskett bluntly stated: “Although he is a Canadian citizen, he is Chinese.”[3]

Congresswoman Stacey Plaskett, source: Federal Newswire Report

In the Forbes article, Zhao Changpeng said: “My Chinese identity has been brought up again, as if it is very important.” Zhao has been a target of discrimination in the past because of his Chinese identity, especially when some people tried to link him to relevant governments in Asia. In the spring of 2024, Zhao Changpeng paid a $4.3 billion fine and, donning prison garb, was executed in a Seattle prison. This imprisonment, which he described as "the most difficult time of my life," did not fully lead to a political reset. The real turning point was the return of Republican Trump to the White House, which offered a "pardon" to the crypto industry. The $4.3 billion fine Zhao Changpeng paid to the Democrats became a sunk cost of his political sacrifice. He was forced to start all over again. In March 2025, Binance announced a $2 billion investment from MGX, the Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund. The proportion, governance rights, and use of the funds were not disclosed, but the settlement method was truly striking. It wasn't US dollar cash, but the USD1 stablecoin—backed by World Liberty, a company with close ties to the Trump family. Shortly thereafter, Changpeng Zhao posted a photo on social media with Zach Witkoff, co-founder of USD1 and a Trump ally. His father, Steve Witkoff, currently serves as the Trump administration's special envoy for the Middle East. This gave a financial investment a more political dimension, with the influx of Middle Eastern capital, the arrival of the Trump family's stablecoin, and a new layer of protection for CZ. Just two weeks later, USD1, the Trump family's stablecoin, officially launched on Binance's BNB Chain. USD1's slogan was simple: "America's Digital Dollar." And CZ's first move was to integrate it into his own platform. BNB Chain was already a bustling marketplace, offering everything from lending and borrowing to decentralized exchanges (DEXs) and memes. As soon as USD1 was listed, lending pools were launched, and cross-chain tools were integrated. The Trump Family Foundation even boosted the meme coin of Binance's Four.meme project. In fact, nearly 90% of the total USD1 stablecoin supply is already circulating on the BNB chain. On the surface, this is a product collaboration; in reality, everyone envied this political blessing, which is so hard to come by. Even so, Zhao Changpeng formally applied for a presidential pardon from Trump in April of this year, and it took a full five months before he received the official document stating that the pardon had been approved. In his famous song "Blowin' in the Wind," Bob Dylan sang: "How many roads must a man walk down? Before you can call him a man." For Binance, the question is equally daunting: "How many roads must I walk down, how many hurdles must I overcome before I can truly stand on the stage of compliance?" For Changpeng Zhao, this is a personal tribulation; for Chinese entrepreneurs, it's a collective challenge. The nationality page of a passport can be changed, but in political narratives, Chinese identity has become an indelible label in the game. This label creates structural fragility. Business competition operates within a legal framework, but war is different. Opponents rarely consider any rules or restrictions and will do whatever it takes to achieve their strategic goals. Zhao Changpeng once said, "If I had an audience, I might be willing to privately mentor a few emerging entrepreneurs. If nothing else, I could at least tell them what not to do." After all, for Chinese entrepreneurs, "compliance" isn't just about compliance; it often implies a higher threshold of "identity redemption." On the surface, this is the institutional friction behind business competition, but deeper down, it's a projection of identity politics in the global market. Even when facing regulation, a German, Japanese, or Korean entrepreneur rarely has their "nationality" exaggerated. But when the subject is Chinese, identity naturally takes on geopolitical overtones, as if every expansion of a company implies the will of the nation. Shein CEO Xu Yangtian obtained a Singaporean passport, but it didn't secure a successful IPO. TikTok appointed a Singaporean CEO, Chew Shou-chi, but Congress continued to question its "Chinese identity." Temu relocated its headquarters to Ireland, but Washington's accusations of "forced labor" persisted. Because of this, there's a persistent disconnect between the "passport" and "identity" of Chinese entrepreneurs. Passports can be changed repeatedly: Canada, Singapore, Grenada... But "identity" is a deeper stigma, etched on the face and etched into the experience, difficult to erase. It forces these entrepreneurs to pay an additional price when expanding across borders: more explanations, more scrutiny, and even more compromises. Some say this is inevitable as globalization reaches its peak: capital can flow freely, but people's identities cannot easily transcend political barriers. The success and predicament of Chinese entrepreneurs epitomize this contradiction.

On the one hand, they have demonstrated the hard work of the Chinese community, but on the other hand, they are constantly reminded that no matter how large the market or how strong the capital, they are always in a position where they need to prove that they are "harmless."

This may be the common pain shared by people like Zhao Changpeng: they can change the company structure and embrace different markets, but they must learn to find refuge in different power structures in the United States, Europe, and the Middle East; they must accept that passports can become tools and that identity is another kind of fate that is difficult to escape.

After receiving the pardon, Zhao Changpeng tweeted: Thank you President Trump for the pardon, and I will do everything I can to help the United States become the capital of cryptocurrency.

Perhaps for Chinese entrepreneurs, this game about "identity" is far from over.