BNB Up 5% As Donald Trump Defends Changpeng Zhao Pardon

The price of BNB has pumped over 5% in the last 24 hours as US President Donald Trump defends his pardon for Binance founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ).

Following the latest gain, BNB trades at $1,141.14 as of 1:00 a.m. EST, according to data from CoinMarketCap. 

BNB price (Source: CoinMarketCap)

The altcoin is now more than 13% in the green on the monthly time frame, but is over 16% down from the all-time high (ATH) of $1,370.55 that was set on Oct. 13. 

Trump Pardons Binance’s CZ After “A Lot Of People” Said He Wasn’t Guilty

CZ pleaded guilty in November 2023 to one count of failing to implement an adequate Anti-Money Laundering (AML) program at Binance, and for violating the Bank Secrecy Act. He was also fined $50 million, and Binance agreed to pay $4.3 billion as part of a settlement. 

As part of the plea, CZ also agreed to step down from his role at the time as Binance’s CEO.

Then, in April 2024, CZ was sentenced to four months in a US prison. He was released from custody in September 2024.

After pardoning CZ, President Trump told reporters during a recent press conference that CZ “was recommended by a lot of people” for a pardon. He added that “a lot of people say he wasn’t guilty of anything.” 

Trump has been accusing Biden of issuing pardons that he’s not even aware of.
Here is Katlin Collins pressing him on the pardon he issued to the founder of Binance and Trump doesn’t seem to have a clue.

“I do pardon a lot of people. I don’t know. He was recommended by a lot of… pic.twitter.com/hszGYQapK3

— Ron Smith (@Ronxyz00) October 23, 2025

“I don’t know him, I don’t believe I’ve ever met him,” Trump said, adding that CZ “had a lot of support” and people told the President that what the Binance founder did “is not even a crime.” Trump subsequently said that he gave CZ the pardon “at the request of a lot of very good people.” 

CZ said on X that he is “deeply grateful” for the pardon and to the President for “upholding America’s commitment to fairness, innovation, and justice.” 

He then went on to say that he will do everything he can “to help make America the Capital of Crypto and advance web3 worldwide.” 

Senator Warren Calls For An Investigation Into CZ’s Pardon

Known crypto skeptic Senator Elizabeth Warren commented on CZ’s pardon on X.

She suggested that the only reason CZ received the pardon was because “he financed President Trump’s stablecoin and lobbied for a pardon.” 

“If Congress does not stop this kind of corruption, it owns it,” she said. 

CZ pleaded guilty to a criminal money laundering charge and was sentenced to prison.

But then he financed President Trump’s stablecoin and lobbied for a pardon.

Today, he got it.

If Congress does not stop this kind of corruption, it owns it. pic.twitter.com/NsWeaJcVeK

— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) October 23, 2025

CZ shared Warren’s post, and said that the “US Senator can’t get her facts right,” adding that “there were NO money laundering charges.” 

“The same Senator declared ‘war on crypto’, on public TV, 5 days before my sentencing, during the Biden Admin,” he continued.

He then said that Senator Warren’s call to Congress to investigate the pardon is just another “example of weaponization of ‘Biden’s DOJ’ against crypto.” 

Meanwhile, CZ’s attorney, Teresa Goody Guillén, said that Trump made the right decision, because her client had a “single charge of failure to have an effective compliance program. NO fraud, NO victims, NO criminal history. NO money laundering.“

Not Trump’s First Crypto-Related Pardon, Polymarket Traders Think SBF Could Be Next

CZ’s pardon comes after Trump pardoned Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht shortly after entering the White House for his second term. This was after Trump made a promise to the crypto community to pardon Ulbricht during his election campaign.

Following the pardon to CZ, traders on the decentralized predictions market platform Polymarket have upped their bets that Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), could be the next to receive a presidential pardon before the year ends. 

In a contract asking who Trump will pardon in 2025, the odds for SBF have risen 5% in the past 24 hours, and now stand at 12%. 

Contract asking who Trump will pardon (Source: Polymarket)

While SBF has filed an appeal to reduce his 25-year sentence, it is unlikely that there will be any major developments with this application before the end of the year. Therefore, a presidential pardon could be his only chance at release before January. 

However, some in the community have questioned whether SBF deserves the same treatment as CZ, given the severity of his crimes that led to the collapse of FTX.

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