President Donald Trump has pardoned Changpeng Zhao, the founder of the world’s largest crypto exchange Binance, the White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed to Fortune on Thursday. “President Trump exercised his constitutional authority by issuing a pardon for Mr. Zhao, who was prosecuted by the Biden Administration in their war on cryptocurrency,” she said in a statement. The Wall Street Journal first broke the news, reporting that Trump signed the pardon on Wednesday.

The decision comes after months of reports that Trump was weighing whether to pardon Zhao. The Binance founder pleaded guilty in 2023 to failing to maintain an effective anti-money laundering regime while he was the CEO of the crypto exchange. He stepped down as CEO and served four months in priso

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