Nearly 70% chance Changpeng Zhao returns to Binance by 31 December
U.S. President Donald Trump pardoned convicted Binance founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao on Oct. 23.
Zhao said he was grateful to the president for pardoning him and “upholding America’s commitment to fairness, innovation, and justice.”
“Will do everything we can to help make America the Capital of Crypto and advance web3 worldwide.”
Binance CEO Richard Teng also thanked the president and said it’s a moment to reflect on how far the crypto industry has come.
“CZ’s belief in the power of crypto and user empowerment laid the foundation for so much of what exists today.”
Related: What is Crypto? Cryptocurrency explained
A Binance spokesperson told TheStreet Roundtable, “Incredible news of CZ’s pardon today. We thank President Trump for his leadership and for his commitment to make the US the crypto capital of the world. CZ’s vision not only made Binance the world’s largest crypto exchange but shaped the broader crypto movement. Binance remains focused on building a secure, transparent, and user-first platform that reduces fees and increases access to the financial system for all.”
It was during the Joe Biden era that the federal authorities tightened their grip over crypto enterprises as part of their efforts to combat alleged securities violations committed within the digital assets industry.
First, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sued Binance and Zhao for violating securities laws in June 2023. Next, the Department of Justice (DOJ) charged them with violating anti-money-laundering (AML) norms in November 2023.
Zhao pleaded guilty to failing to maintain adequate AML standards and paid a $50 million fine. Binance also pleaded guilty and paid a $4.3 billion fine.
The billionaire founder stepped down as CEO then and there, and Binance’s then-head of regional markets outside the U.S., Richard Teng, took over the role.
In April 2024, a U.S. federal judge sentenced Zhao to four months in prison. He served his prison time and went back to Dubai later that year.
The crypto community is now wondering if Zhao will return to an active leadership role at Binance.
69% of traders on Polymarket, the crypto-based prediction market, have put their money on him returning to the exchange by Dec. 31. So far, crypto traders have put in $32,770 on the event.
Source: Polymarket” loading=”lazy” height=”535″ width=”960″ class=”yf-1gfnohs loader”>Launched in 2020, the New York City-headquartered Polymarket is the world’s largest prediction market. It lets traders predict events like future Bitcoin price, election results, government shutdown, Federal Reserve policy, etc., by paying with cryptocurrency.
Polymarket also faced intense scrutiny at the hands of U.S. authorities during the Biden era due to its election-based event markets. However, the authorities dropped their probe within months of Trump coming to power.
In late August, a VC fund the president’s son, Donald Jr., is a partner at, invested in Polymarket.
In early September, the platform won the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) approval to return to the U.S. market.
In early October, Polymarket secured a $2 billion investment from the Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE), the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange.
This story was originally reported by TheStreet on Oct 23, 2025, where it first appeared in the Trading News & Analysis section. Add TheStreet as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
