Key Highlights
- BNB soared over 5% after U.S President Donald Trump decided to pardon Binance’s founder
- Trump’s pardon will erase Zhao’s federal conviction for violating anti-money laundering (AML) laws.
- The cryptocurrency is expected to continue upward trajectory
On October 23, the BNB coin indicated positive momentum by climbing over 5% in a daily chart. The cryptocurrency has witnessed an impressive surge after the latest report, which claims that U.S. President Donald Trump has officially pardoned Binance’s founder, Changpeng Zhao, aka ‘CZ’.
Deeply grateful for today’s pardon and to President Trump for upholding America’s commitment to fairness, innovation, and justice.
🙏🙏🙏🙏Will do everything we can to help make America the Capital of Crypto and advance web3 worldwide.
(Still in flight, more posts to come.)…
— CZ 🔶 BNB (@cz_binance) October 23, 2025
The BNB recently bounced back from a key support zone, which lies between the critical support level of $1055, the 61.8% Fibonacci retracement of the sharp upward move in mid-October, and the lower daily Bollinger Band.
This rebound formed a daily Japanese candlestick pattern known as a Morning stars, which shows a continuation of the ongoing intermediate impulse wave.
Trump’s Pardon of Binance Founder CZ
On October 23, U.S. President issued a full pardon to Changpeng Zhao, the billionaire co-founder and former CEO of Binance. It is one of the cryptocurrency exchanges.
This executive action was announced by White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt. Simply put, Trump’s pardon will effectively wipe out Zhao’s federal conviction for violating anti-money laundering (AML) laws.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt stated in the official statement that Trump had “exercised his constitutional authority by issuing a pardon for Mr. Zhao, who was prosecuted by the Biden Administration in their war on cryptocurrency.” She also added that, “The Biden Administration’s war on crypto is over.”
This development comes amid a positive shift in U.S. policy toward the cryptocurrency sector, which shows Trump’s growing favoritism toward the crypto industry amid his administration’s pro-innovation agenda.
“Incredible news of CZ’s pardon today. We thank President Trump for his leadership and for his commitment to make the US the crypto capital of the world,” said a spokesperson for Binance.
At the time of writing, the BNB token is trading at around $1,127.93 with an impressive market capitalization of $156.78 billion, according to CoinMarketCap.
Trump Ends CZ’s Legal Trouble
Binance’s meteoric rise and tag of the leading cryptocurrency exchange has attracted the attention of government officials. U.S. authorities have accused it of operating an unlicensed money transmitter, evading sanctions, and allowing illegal financial operations, which allegedly allowed $20 billion in suspicious transactions, including by terrorist groups like Hamas and Al Qaeda.
In November 2023, Zhao pleaded guilty to AML amid a DOJ probe. After this setback, he officially stepped down from the CEO position.
Not only this, Binance forked over $4.3 billion in penalties, while Zhao personally paid $50 billion and served four months in low-security prison in 2024. However, this punishment was far below the 3 years prosecutors sought, thanks to a sympathetic judge.
Trump’s Endless Love for the Crypto Industry
Trump’s mercy for crypto leaders is not surprising at all. Since his election campaign, he has been the biggest vocal supporter of the cryptocurrency industry. Once a skeptic who called Bitcoin a “scam” in 2021, Trump flipped during his 2024 election bid.
Trump’s administration wasted no time wooing the cryptocurrency community. He pardoned BitMEX founders Arthur Hayes and Benjamin Delo in February for similar AML violations. Similarly, he commuted Silk Road creator Ross Ulbricht’s life sentence in March, and greenlit a $2 billion Binance investment via the Trump family’s World Liberty Financial (WLFI).
However, some critics like Elizabeth Warren called Trump’s action “pay-to-play,” alleging that Zhao’s lobbyists and WLFI links greased the wheels. Zhao denied quid pro quo, saying that “No felon would mind a pardon.”
Leavitt’s statement framed the pardon as justice; the Biden administration sought to imprison Mr. Zhao for three years, which severely damaged U.S. innovation.” This approach aligns with U.S. President Donald Trump’s plan to make America the crypto capital of the planet.
