Trump Denies Knowing Binance Founder CZ After Issuing Pardon
President Donald Trump has claimed he knows nothing about Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, the founder of Binance, despite granting him a presidential pardon just weeks ago — a decision he defended as part of his effort to bolster America’s role in the global cryptocurrency race.
Speaking during a CBS “60 Minutes” interview aired Sunday, Trump insisted, “I don’t know who he is,” when asked about pardoning Zhao, who stepped down as Binance CEO in 2023 after pleading guilty to failing to prevent money laundering on his exchange. Zhao served a four-month prison sentence and was released in September 2024.
Trump argued that his decision was meant to strengthen U.S. competitiveness in crypto innovation, criticizing the Biden administration for what he described as a politically motivated case against Zhao. “They sent him to jail and really set him up. That’s my opinion,” Trump said. “I was told he was a victim, just like I was.”
The former president also highlighted that his sons, rather than himself, are more engaged in cryptocurrency ventures. “My sons are involved in crypto much more than I— me. I know very little about it, other than it’s a huge industry,” he said, warning that if the U.S. fails to lead in crypto, “China, Japan, or someplace else will.”
Trump’s remarks come amid ongoing Republican criticism of President Biden’s use of an autopen to sign pardons, with Trump alleging that Biden “did not know anything about them.” Ironically, Trump’s own lack of familiarity with Zhao has drawn attention to the opaque nature of presidential clemency decisions.
Binance, meanwhile, remains under scrutiny despite settling a $4.3 billion fine in 2023 — one of the largest corporate penalties in U.S. history — following a multiyear investigation into illicit crypto transactions.
Reports from The New York Times indicate that following Trump’s election, Zhao lobbied aggressively for a pardon, even praising Trump publicly and submitting direct appeals. Binance has also recently become intertwined with World Liberty Financial, a crypto project connected to the Trump family that channels a significant portion of its token revenue to a Trump-linked company.
In May, World Liberty co-founder Zach Witkoff announced that the firm’s stablecoin would back a $2 billion investment in Binance from the UAE’s MGX investment fund. Later that month, the SEC dropped its case against Binance and Zhao — weeks before Trump granted the pardon on October 23.
When asked on CBS about whether the pardon appeared to be a case of “pay for play,” Trump deflected, saying, “I know nothing about it because I’m too busy. My sons are into it. I’m glad they are… they’re running a business, they’re not in government.”
Returning to Zhao, Trump reiterated, “I know nothing about the guy, other than I hear he was a victim of weaponization by government. When you say the government, you’re talking about the Biden government.”
The episode underscores Trump’s balancing act between distancing himself from high-profile clemency recipients and embracing crypto as a symbol of American innovation under his leadership.