Binance co-founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao says he believes rival US crypto exchanges actively lobbied against his presidential pardon.
Zhao told the Crypto Banter podcast that competitors feared Binance re-entering the US market after the exchange left in November 2023, following a $4.3 billion settlement with the US government over anti-money-laundering violations.
“The other crypto exchanges in the US don't want me to get a pardon,” Zhao said. “We had very strong anti-lobbying from some of our perceived competitors.”
President Donald Trump pardoned Zhao in October 2025, just over a year after Zhao served a four-month prison sentence. Trump told 60 Minutes he was told Zhao was a victim of a “witch hunt.”
Binance.US resumed operations in February 2025, months before the pardon was granted.