Changpeng ‘CZ’ Zhao reveals he has no desire to serve as Binance CEO again, but admits he ‘definitely wouldn’t mind’ receiving a pardon from Donald Trump.
On Dec. 2, former Binance(BNB) CEO, Changpeng ‘CZ’ Zhao, responded to an X post by Telos Foundation’s Executive Director, John Lilic mentioning him. Lilic suggested that President-elect Donald Trump should think about pardoning CZ in light of his past criminal charges that led to him receiving a four-month prison sentence.
“President @realDonaldTrump should consider a pardon for @cz_binance so he can return to being the CEO of @binance and help the crypto industry mature, and realize its full potential. He is also a victim of law fare,” said Lilic in his X post.
CZ replied to Lilic’s post, clarifying that he has no desire to return to Binance as CEO. However, he did not object to receiving a pardon from Trump.
“No wish to be CEO again. But definitely wouldn’t mind a pardon,” said CZ.
Replies underneath the interaction between the Telos exec and the former Binance CEO showed a lot of support for CZ, with many users commenting “Free CZ.” Many users wrote that the former CEO would be able to do so much for the crypto community, whether it is by returning to Binance as CEO or by taking a seat in the government.
“Yes CZ definitely deserves the spot in the government to bring mass #crypto adoption,” said one user.
“Not working as CEO of Binance but working as a CEO of crypto,” said another user.
In a public interview following his prison release, CZ debunked claims that he was under a “lifetime ban” from managing crypto exchanges via his plea agreement, He said that “those two words don’t exist in my plea agreement with the government.”
However, CZ firmly said that even if he were allowed to return as Binance CEO, he has no desire to do so. Instead, he preferred to use his time to provide funding and mentoring for young entrepreneurs who want to start new projects in the crypto sphere.
In November 2023, CZ pleaded guilty to charges related to company operations. These included facilitating transactions for countries under U.S. sanctions, such as Iran and Cuba. The charges were primarily related to money laundering.
As part of his plea deal with the U.S government, Binance had to pay a fine of $4.3 billion, while Zhao personally paid a $50 million fine and agreed to step down as CEO of Binance. Though, he still holds shareholder rights over the crypto exchange.
