(WASHINGTON) -- President Donald Trump has pardoned Binance co-founder Changpeng Zhao, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed to ABC News on Thursday.
Zhao pleaded guilty in 2023 to a money laundering charge.
The pardon comes as Zhao made recent moves to boost World Liberty Financial, a cryptocurrency company that Trump's sons, Eric and Donald Jr., launched earlier this year.
Leavitt said in a statement that Trump "exercised his constitutional authority by issuing a pardon for Mr. Zhao, who was prosecuted by the Biden Administration in their war on cryptocurrency."
"In their desire to punish the cryptocurrency industry, the Biden Administration pursued Mr. Zhao despite no allegations of fraud or identifiable victims. The Biden Administration sought to imprison Mr. Zhao for three years, a sentence so outside Sentencing Guidelines that the even the Judge said he had never heard of this in his 30-year career," Leavitt said in the statement. "These actions by the Biden Administration severely damaged the United States’ reputation as a global leader in technology and innovation. The Biden Administration’s war on crypto is over."
Leavitt, during Thursday's White House press briefing, sidestepped questions about whether Trump's pardon was a conflict of interest because of the crypto exchange company’s connection with the Trump family’s crypto endeavors.
"The president is exercising his constitutional authority to grant clemency requests," Leavitt said during the press briefing.
Asked if Zhao’s pardon could clear the way for Binance to resume U.S. operations, Leavitt deferred to the Treasury or the Department of Commerce for comment.
The Wall Street Journal was first to report on the pardon.