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After stepping down in 2023 as part of a deal with US officials that later sent him to prison, Changpeng Zhao said he had “no plans to return to the CEO position” at Binance.
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Cryptocurrency enthusiasts are speculating that former Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao is closer to receiving a pardon from US President Donald Trump after a change to his social media profile.
The odds of Zhao receiving a pardon from Trump on the prediction platform Polymarket increased to an all-time high of 64% on Saturday, but they have since dropped to 45% at the time of publication.
Several users noted on Wednesday that Zhao had removed the “ex-@binance” tag — which he had added in 2023 after stepping down as CEO under a US plea deal — suggesting he may no longer be distancing himself from the exchange he founded in 2017.
A presidential pardon could potentially allow CZ to resume a managing or operating role at Binance — something the exchange said was off the table as part of the deal with US officials.
After stepping down in November 2023, Zhao said he had “no plans to return to the CEO position.” However, in May, he confirmed having directed his lawyers to apply for a pardon from Trump.
Trump has issued pardons for Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht, and BitMEX co-founders Arthur Hayes, Benjamin Delo, and Samuel Reed.
Cointelegraph reached out to a Binance spokesperson for comment, but had not received a response at the time of publication.
Related: CZ sounds alarm as ‘SEAL’ team uncovers 60 fake IT workers linked to North Korea
Binance deal is still under scrutiny from lawmakers
Zhao served four months in prison in 2024 after pleading guilty to a money laundering charge for his failure to maintain an effective Anti-Money Laundering program while at Binance.
The exchange agreed to pay $4.3 billion as part of the deal with US officials, and Richard Teng has served as CEO since Zhao’s departure.
This article first appeared at Cointelegraph.com News
