And today, The Wall Street Journal reports, according to people familiar with the matter, that Trump has indeed pardoned CZ following months of efforts by Zhao to boost the Trump family's own crypto company.

The company has spent nearly a year pursuing a pardon for Zhao, who left prison in September 2024 after serving a four-month sentence for related charges.

Earlier this year, the company hired lobbyist Ches McDowell to help pursue a pardon, the Journal previously reported.

Zhao, once among the most influential figures in the digital asset world, served time following a plea deal with the U.S. Department of Justice in 2023 that included a money-laundering conviction and $4.3 billion in fines for Binance. 

Zhao's 2023 conviction marked one of the most high-profile cases in the government's campaign against major exchanges. 

U.S. prosecutors accused Binance of allowing illicit transactions with sanctioned entities and failing to implement proper anti-money-laundering controls. CZ pleaded guilty, stepped down as CEO, and paid a personal fine of $50 million.

Zhao served a four-month prison sentence. He was sentenced in April 2024 and released in September 2024, after spending time in a low-security federal prison in California and then a halfway house.

Despite this, even critics of Binance have questioned whether the criminal charges were proportionate. Trump's team reportedly sees Zhao's situation as an opportunity to demonstrate a "new era" of crypto policy — one that favors innovation over punishment.

But according to several sources familiar with the matter, many within Trump's inner circle viewed the case as politically motivated - a hallmark of what they describe as the Biden administration's broader crackdown on crypto.