Binance

Quick Take

Binance's political story in the United States runs through the White House. In 2025 Binance Holdings hired two lobbying firms whose federal filings list "executive relief" among their issues, and it paid them $1.23 million that year [6]. On October 21, 2025, President Trump signed a pardon for Zhao, which the White House announced two days later [12][7]. Months earlier, an investment fund in the United Arab Emirates had announced it would use $2 billion of USD1, a stablecoin (a crypto token pegged to the dollar) launched by the Trump family's crypto venture World Liberty Financial, to buy a stake in Binance [7]. Binance's spending on one of those lobbying firms rose to $1.95 million in the first nine months of 2026 [6]. A search of Federal Election Commission records turns up no meaningful contributions listed under Binance's name [8]. Outside the U.S., Zhao was named a strategic adviser to Pakistan's government crypto council in April 2025 [9].

A Guilty Plea, Then a Pardon

In November 2023, Binance Holdings pleaded guilty to violating the Bank Secrecy Act (the main U.S. anti-money-laundering law), failing to register as a money transmitting business, and violating U.S. sanctions law [4]. It agreed to pay $4.3 billion in criminal fines and forfeiture, one of the largest criminal penalties the Justice Department has obtained from a company [4][10]. The Justice Department said Binance caused more than $898 million in trades between U.S. users and users living in Iran between January 2018 and May 2022 [4].

The Treasury Department settled with Binance the same day. Its Financial Crimes Enforcement Network assessed a $3.4 billion civil penalty, and its Office of Foreign Assets Control settled 1,667,153 apparent sanctions violations for about $968.6 million [13][14]. The Justice Department credited about $1.8 billion of its penalty toward those two settlements [4]. Treasury said Binance handled an estimated 60 percent of centralized crypto spot trading at the time [13]. Binance also agreed to an independent compliance monitor for three years under its plea deal, and for five years under its Treasury settlements [4][13][14]. In December 2023, in a separate case brought by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, a federal court ordered Binance to pay $2.7 billion and Zhao to pay a $150 million civil penalty for violating the Commodity Exchange Act [21].

Zhao pleaded guilty to failing to maintain an effective anti-money-laundering program and stepped down as CEO [4]. "I failed here," he told the court [7]. He paid a $50 million fine and served nearly four months in prison, but kept his stake in Binance [11].

In May 2025, the Securities and Exchange Commission dropped its civil lawsuit against Binance and Zhao, dismissing it with prejudice "as a policy matter" [17].

On October 21, 2025, President Trump signed a pardon for Zhao [12]. The White House announced it on October 23 [7]. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the Biden administration had prosecuted Zhao out of a "desire to punish the cryptocurrency industry," and that there were "no allegations of fraud or identifiable victims" [7]. Zhao had publicly said he asked Trump for a pardon [7].

The Lobbying Behind "Executive Relief"

Federal lobbying records show how Binance worked Washington in the year before the pardon. In March 2025, the law firm BakerHostetler registered to lobby for Binance Holdings on "financial services policy issues relating to digital assets and cryptocurrency; and executive relief" [6]. Its second-quarter 2025 report lists "Executive relief" as an issue lobbied at the Executive Office of the President [6]. Binance paid BakerHostetler $330,000 in 2025 [6].

Later in 2025 Binance Holdings hired Checkmate Government Relations, whose registration lists the same two issues [6]. Binance paid Checkmate $450,000 in each of the last two quarters of 2025, and $1.95 million over the first three quarters of 2026 [6]. Checkmate lobbyist Ches McDowell is a close associate of Donald Trump Jr. [22]. The Wall Street Journal later reported that McDowell raised Zhao's pardon with the president during an Oval Office visit with Trump Jr., and that Trump agreed to sign it; McDowell said Trump Jr. did not help him pursue the pardon and had left the room when he brought it up [23]. Binance and Zhao had also retained crypto lawyer Teresa Goody Guillén, once considered for SEC chair under Trump, in February 2025 [22]. Zhao told a podcaster in May 2025 that he was seeking a pardon, Reuters reported [11].

The Trump Family Connection

The pardon drew attention because of business ties between Binance and the president's family. World Liberty Financial, a crypto venture launched by Trump and his sons Eric and Donald Jr., issues the USD1 stablecoin [7]. MGX, an investment fund in the United Arab Emirates, used $2 billion worth of USD1 to buy a stake in Binance, World Liberty announced [7]. Reuters reported that Binance accepted the stablecoin as payment in May 2025, giving the venture a big boost, and that the deal still accounted for most of the USD1 in circulation [11]. Trump's financial disclosure reported more than $57 million in income from World Liberty Financial in one year [7]. In November 2025, CBS's 60 Minutes reported that Binance still had about $2 billion in World Liberty Financial, and estimated the money could be earning the Trumps and their partners $80 million a year in interest [19].

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat, criticized the pardon, saying Zhao had pleaded guilty to a money laundering charge, then "boosted one of Donald Trump's crypto ventures and lobbied for a pardon" [11]. A Binance spokesperson thanked Trump for his leadership and declined to comment on Warren's criticism [11]. Trump said of Zhao, "I don't know him. I don't believe I've ever met him," and that he granted the pardon "at the request of a lot of very good people" [19]. Zhao said he has no business relationship with any of Trump's sons, and an attorney for Zhao and Binance told CBS that neither provided "technical support, personnel, or any other resources" to World Liberty Financial [19]. Guillén has denied that the pardon was pay-to-play [24].

Congressional scrutiny has continued since the pardon. After Sen. Richard Blumenthal opened a Senate inquiry into reports that Binance had facilitated more than $1 billion in crypto transactions to entities connected to Iran, Binance replied in March 2026 in a letter to Blumenthal and Sen. Ron Johnson of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations [18]. It called the reports "demonstrably false, unsupported by credible evidence, and defamatory in several material respects," and said that "to our knowledge, no Binance account transacted directly with an Iran-based entity" [18].

The Record-Setting Hack

The October 2026 theft hit Binance's "hot wallets," the internet-connected wallets used to process withdrawals [1]. Co-CEO Richard Teng said most user assets sit in offline "cold wallets" [1]. Binance's security chief later said the attack began when an engineer took a fake job interview and downloaded a coding test that carried malware [2].

The blockchain firm TRM said an attacker moved about $6.36 billion out of Binance wallets on ten blockchains [1]. That is more than four times the $1.5 billion stolen from the exchange Bybit in February 2025, which the FBI also blamed on TraderTraitor [2]. Kim Yo Jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, called the FBI's finding "absurd rhetoric" [2]. Asked whether North Korea was involved, Trump said, "We're looking at that" [1].

Binance said it paid to replace the stolen assets with a mix of its corporate treasury, part of its Secure Asset Fund for Users (SAFU), a user-protection fund, and a portion of its futures insurance fund [15]. By November 4 it said it had replaced about 98 percent of the stolen assets and was still buying the rest, which it said were less liquid tokens [16]. It also expanded its public proof-of-reserves report from 10 tokens to 44 [16].

Politics Beyond Washington

Binance operates worldwide, so its political engagement reaches past U.S. lobbying. In April 2025, Pakistan's government named Zhao a strategic adviser to the newly created Pakistan Crypto Council, after he met with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar [9]. That same month, Zhao signed a memorandum of understanding with Kyrgyzstan's National Investment Agency to advise the country on crypto regulation and blockchain technology, and said he "officially and unofficially" advises "a few governments on their crypto regulatory frameworks" [25]. Political-finance records in many of the countries where Binance operates are thin or not public, so this profile covers only what could be documented.

Where to Find Them

Binance runs its main exchange at binance.com. Customers in the United States are served instead by Binance.US, the separate U.S. company [6].

Footnotes

[1] Kaitlyn Huamani and Chan Ho-him, Associated Press (via PBS News), "What to know about the $6.3B hack on Binance, likely the biggest-ever crypto theft," October 31, 2026. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/what-to-know-about-the-6-3b-hack-on-binance-likely-the-biggest-ever-crypto-theft

[2] Francisco Rodrigues, CoinDesk, "What is TraderTraitor, the hacking squad behind the $6.3 billion Binance heist?," November 5, 2026. https://www.coindesk.com/business/2026/11/05/what-is-tradertraitor-the-hacking-squad-behind-the-usd6-3-billion-binance-heist

[3] Adrian Zmudzinski, Cointelegraph, "Binance names co-founder Yi He co-CEO alongside Richard Teng," December 3, 2025. https://cointelegraph.com/news/binance-cofounder-yi-he-named-co-ceo

[4] U.S. Department of Justice, "Binance and CEO Plead Guilty to Federal Charges in $4B Resolution," November 21, 2023. https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/binance-and-ceo-plead-guilty-federal-charges-4b-resolution

[5] Bloomberg Billionaires Index, "Changpeng Zhao," accessed November 9, 2026. https://www.bloomberg.com/billionaires/id/20478999

[6] Lobbying Disclosure Act filings, clients Binance Holdings Ltd. (registrants Baker & Hostetler LLP and Checkmate Government Relations) and BAM Trading Services Inc. (Binance.US), 2025 and 2026, accessed November 11, 2026. 2025 filings: https://lda.gov/api/v1/filings/?client_name=Binance&filing_year=2025 ; 2026 filings: https://lda.gov/api/v1/filings/?client_name=Binance&filing_year=2026

[7] Will Weissert, Associated Press (via PBS News), "Trump pardons Binance founder Changpeng Zhao," October 23, 2025. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/trump-pardons-binance-founder-changpeng-zhao

[8] Federal Election Commission, receipts search for contributor "Binance," accessed November 9, 2026. https://www.fec.gov/data/receipts/?contributor_name=Binance

[9] Press Trust of India (via Business Standard), "Pakistan names Binance founder Zhao as adviser to new crypto council," April 8, 2025. https://www.business-standard.com/amp/world-news/pakistan-names-binance-founder-zhao-as-adviser-to-new-crypto-council-125040800378_1.html

[10] U.S. Department of Justice, "Attorney General Merrick B. Garland Delivers Remarks Announcing Binance and CEO Guilty Pleas to Federal Charges in $4B Resolution," November 21, 2023. https://www.justice.gov/opa/speech/attorney-general-merrick-b-garland-delivers-remarks-announcing-binance-and-ceo-guilty

[11] Reuters (via Profit by Pakistan Today), "US President Trump pardons Binance founder, White House says," October 24, 2025. https://profit.pakistantoday.com.pk/2025/10/24/us-president-trump-pardons-binance-founder-white-house-says

[12] U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the Pardon Attorney, pardon warrant for Changpeng Zhao, signed October 21, 2025. https://www.justice.gov/pardon/media/1416576/dl

[13] U.S. Department of the Treasury, "U.S. Treasury Announces Largest Settlements in History with World's Largest Virtual Currency Exchange Binance for Violations of U.S. Anti-Money Laundering and Sanctions Laws," November 21, 2023. https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy1925

[14] U.S. Department of the Treasury, Office of Foreign Assets Control, "Settlement Agreement between the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control and Binance Holdings, Ltd.," recent actions, November 21, 2023. https://ofac.treasury.gov/recent-actions/20231121

[15] Bryan O'Shea, Cointelegraph, "Binance says 90% of stolen assets replenished, targets Sunday withdrawals," October 31, 2026. https://cointelegraph.com/news/binance-hack-90-percent-replenished

[16] Binance, "Security Incident | Recovery Update #7: 98% of Stolen Assets Replenished and New PoR Snapshot With Expanded Coverage (2026-11-04)," November 4, 2026. https://www.binance.com/en/support/announcement/detail/c6ba9aa726974fc6b9332a2c8f63b405

[17] U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Litigation Release No. 26316, "Binance Holdings Limited; BAM Trading Services Inc.; BAM Management US Holdings Inc.; Changpeng Zhao," May 29, 2025. https://www.sec.gov/enforcement-litigation/litigation-releases/lr-26316

[18] Turner Wright, Cointelegraph, "Binance says US Senate Iran probe is based on 'defamatory' reports," March 6, 2026. https://cointelegraph.com/news/binance-senate-probe-iran-response

[19] Scott Pelley, CBS News, 60 Minutes, "Trump pardon of crypto billionaire sparks concerns over his use of the pardon power," November 16, 2025. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-pardon-of-crypto-billionaire-sparks-concerns-over-use-of-pardon-power-60-minutes-transcript/

[20] Turner Wright, Cointelegraph, "Binance forms board of directors for the first time," April 1, 2024. https://cointelegraph.com/news/binance-board-of-directors

[21] Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Release No. 8837-23, "Federal Court Enters Order Against Binance and Former CEO Zhao Concluding CFTC Litigation," December 18, 2023. https://www.cftc.gov/PressRoom/PressReleases/8837-23

[22] Amin Haqshanas, Cointelegraph, "CZ's pardon came after costly Binance lobbying push in Washington: Politico," October 26, 2025. https://cointelegraph.com/news/cz-pardon-binance-lobbying-trump-washington

[23] Rebecca Ballhaus, Josh Dawsey and C. Ryan Barber, The Wall Street Journal, "Inside the New Fast Track to a Presidential Pardon," December 23, 2025. https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/trump-presidential-pardon-process-dda97c15 (excerpted by Election Law Blog: https://electionlawblog.org/?p=153622)

[24] Brian Quarmby, Cointelegraph, "CZ's lawyer denies Binance co-founder's pardon was 'pay-to-play'," November 17, 2025. https://cointelegraph.com/news/cz-lawyer-refutes-pay-to-play-accusation-trump-pardon

[25] Brayden Lindrea, Cointelegraph, "Binance co-founder Changpeng Zhao to advise Kyrgyzstan on blockchain tech," April 4, 2025. https://cointelegraph.com/news/binance-co-founder-changpeng-zhao-to-advise-kyrgyzstan-on-blockchain-tech