The move could allow CZ to return to Binance as CEO after previous legal restrictions.
BNB, the native token of BNB Smart Chain (BSC), surged sharply on Thursday following news that President Donald Trump pardoned Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, the co-founder and former CEO of crypto exchange Binance.
The token is currently trading at $1,145, up 7% on the day, according to The Defiant’s price page. BNB is currently the fourth-largest digital asset with a market capitalization of over $158 billion. Previously Binance’s official platform token before a rebrand, the token and the broader BNB Chain ecosystem remain closely tied to the CEX, and officially supported by CZ.
The pardon comes nearly two years after Zhao pleaded guilty in November 2023 to violating U.S. anti-money-laundering requirements. As part of a $4.3 billion settlement with the Department of Justice (DoJ), Zhao agreed to step down as Binance CEO.
Trump reportedly told advisers he was sympathetic to claims that Zhao faced political persecution, one source told the WSJ. Meanwhile, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that the president had “exercised his constitutional authority by issuing a pardon for Mr. Zhao, who was prosecuted by the Biden Administration in their war on cryptocurrency.”
Binance is currently the largest centralized cryptocurrency exchange by daily trading volume, with more than $24.4 billion traded on the CEX in the past 24 hours. The next largest CEXs by daily volumes see between $3 billion and $4 billion per day. The U.S. pardon could potentially allow Zhao to serve as Binance’s CEO or in another executive role, after previously being forced to step down as part of the DoJ settlement.
Following the conviction, Zhao served a four-month prison sentence and was released in September 2024. Since Trump’s election, however, CZ and Binance have been linked to the Trump family’s World Liberty Financial crypto venture, as The Defiant previously reported.
Binance has not responded to The Defiant’s request for comment at the time of publishing.
Recent Ecosystem Growth
Thursday’s rally comes just 10 days after BNB reached a new all-time high of $1,369.99 on Oct. 13, despite the broader crypto market recording nearly a week of losses following a larger crash on Oct.10.
And on Oct. 9, BSC, the flagship network of the BNB Chain ecosystem, recorded a new milestone of 5 trillion gas used in a single day as on-chain activity surged. The development was driven by the network adopting a 0.05 Gwei standard gas price – down from 0.1 Gwei.
BSC’s total value locked (TVL) has jumped 9% over the past 24 hours to $9.29 billion, per DeFiLlama.
