CZ Says Competing Crypto Exchanges Lobbied Against His Pardon — Here's What He Claimed

[lingriiddd]

Binance co-founder Changpeng Zhao has opened up about his unexpected pardon from President Trump in October 2025, revealing that he was not confident it would happen — and alleging that US-based crypto exchanges actively worked against it. "You never know because we actually had very strong anti-lobbying from some of our perceived competitors in the US," Zhao told Ran Neuner on the Crypto Banter podcast. His theory is straightforward: US crypto exchanges did not want Binance re-entering the American market, and a pardon for Zhao would accelerate exactly that outcome. Zhao acknowledged he has no concrete evidence for the lobbying claim but said he is "pretty confident it happened to some extent." The allegation, while unverified, reflects the intensely competitive dynamics that define the US crypto exchange market, where Binance's potential return represents a significant threat to the platforms that have built their businesses during the period of Binance's absence.The backstory provides important context. Binance exited the US market in November 2023 following a $4.3 billion settlement with the US government over violations of the Bank Secrecy Act, the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, and failure to register as a money transmitting business.

Zhao pleaded guilty and served a four-month prison sentence, completing it in September 2024. Trump pardoned him in October 2025, over a year later, telling 60 Minutes in November that he had "no idea who he is" but had been told Zhao was a victim of a Biden administration "witch hunt." Binance.US had already resumed operations for eligible US users in February 2025, months before the pardon was granted, suggesting the platform's re-entry was already underway regardless of Zhao's legal status. The pardon nonetheless cleared a significant reputational and legal obstacle for Zhao personally, and a federal court in Alabama separately dismissed a 2024 complaint in March alleging Binance facilitated transfers to terrorist groups, removing another cloud over the company's US ambitions.

[cryptohog]

"Pretty confident but no evidence" allegation is strategically useful for CZ regardless of factual accuracy

[cryptoenthusiast]

Binance.US February 2025 resumption predating October pardon undermines the pardon-as-prerequisite framing CZ implicitly suggests