WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump has pardoned convicted Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, a White House official said on Thursday.

In a statement, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump had “exercised his constitutional authority by issuing a pardon for Mr. Zhao, who was prosecuted by the Biden Administration in their war on cryptocurrency.”

Binance did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Zhao, one of the most powerful people in the crypto world, had to step down as chief of Binance when the company agreed to a $4.3 billion settlement with the U.S. government to end a years-long probe into misconduct at the world’s largest crypto exchange.

Trump’s pardon of Zhao paves the way for the crypto mogul to return to the business he helped found in

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