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CZ Declares He Won’t Return to Binance After Trump Pardon – What’s Going On?
Changpeng “CZ” Zhao confirmed he has no plans to return to Binance despite receiving a presidential pardon from Donald Trump three months ago.
Speaking at his first World Economic Forum appearance in Davos, the former CEO detailed his prison experience, the pardon process, and his current government advisory work on crypto regulation.
“Much more freedom, much more liberated,” Zhao said about the October 20 pardon’s psychological impact. “I was a free man before but with a felon status. But now I’m a real free man.“
From Prison to Presidential Pardon: CZ’s Journey
Zhao served four months in federal prison after pleading guilty in November 2023 to violating the Bank Secrecy Act.
His first day involved a “pretty brutal” strip search where authorities required him to “strip naked,” “lift your balls,” and “flip over, spread your butt cheeks, cough three times.“
His first cellmate was serving 30 years for double murder. “I’m not usually very emotionally stable,” Zhao said about coping.
“So I just thought, at four months, I just got to get through it, right?” Despite legal advice that no one in U.S. history had been jailed for a single Bank Secrecy Act violation, he received prison time while most bank CEOs get deferred prosecution agreements.
Media speculation in March 2025 prompted Zhao to apply after major publications suggested he should receive one.
“It was actually all the media that says I might be trying to get a pardon,” he explained. “If all the media like you know Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, New York Times are saying that I should be getting a pardon,” he decided to apply.
He never met Trump directly. “I never got in front of Trump,” Zhao said, noting the process remained “like a black box. I don’t know what the process is.”
He was “about 30, 40 feet away from him” during a Davos session but never shook hands. “I just waited and waited and waited and then suddenly it happened.“
A candid conversation from Davos – on prison, pardon, and what freedom means going forward.
— CZ
Full interview on @CNBC with @andrewrsorkin. Focused on building what’s next. pic.twitter.com/x94llJFac2BNB (@cz_binance) January 25, 2026
Current Focus: Education, Investment, and Government Advisory
Zhao now focuses on Giggle Academy, a free education platform, while working with YZLabs and mentoring BNB Chain founders.
“I also spent quite a lot of a lot of time talking with about a half about a dozen governments about you know how to regulate crypto, how to do tokenization, how to do stable coins,” he said.
He firmly ruled out returning to Binance. “I haven’t really needed to go back. I didn’t really want to,” he stated.
“I don’t think it’s good for me to go back. I think we should leave room for strong leaders to grow.” His involvement today is minimal, revealing, “When I want to give them advice, I just write it on Twitter.“
When asked about potential refunds of Binance’s $4.3 billion settlement, Zhao said, “If we get any refund, we will be investing that in America, to show our appreciation,” though he clarified he had not requested one.
— Cryptonews.com (@cryptonews) November 17, 2025
CZ Predicts 2026 Bitcoin “Super Cycle” Breaking Historical Pattern
Notably, Zhao predicted a “super cycle” in 2026 that could break Bitcoin’s four-year pattern. “I have very strong feelings that you will probably be a super cycle” in 2026, he told CNBC.
“Normally, Bitcoin follows four year cycles historically,” Zhao explained.
“If you look at historic data like every four years you know there’s an all-time high and then there’s a drop. But I think this year given the US being so pro crypto and every other country is kind of following, I do think we will see this we will probably break the four year cycle.“
Zhao doesn’t trade despite his holdings. “I don’t trade at all,” he said. “I just hold Bitcoins. I hold BNB. I don’t do day trading.” On long-term predictions, he stated, “If you look at a 10, five, 10 year horizon, it’s very easy to predict. We’re going to go up.“
Corruption Allegations and Political Backlash
The pardon has drawn fierce opposition from Democratic lawmakers, who question its timing and the circumstances surrounding it.
Senator Elizabeth Warren wrote that “the convergence of Mr. Zhao’s pardon application and Binance’s financial entanglements with the President’s family presents urgent concerns regarding the integrity of our justice system.“
Representative Maxine Waters also called it “an appalling but unsurprising reflection of his presidency.“
Despite these allegations, Trump claimed he doesn’t know who Zhao is, calling the case “a Biden witch hunt.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt also defended the decision, noting the case had “no allegations of fraud or identifiable victims.“
In response to mounting criticism, Zhao’s attorney, Teresa Goody Guillén, dismissed corruption allegations as “false statements” based on “fundamental misunderstandings” of blockchain technology, arguing that Zhao “never should have been prosecuted.“
— Cryptonews.com (@cryptonews) November 16, 2025
While CZ confirmed he will not be returning the exchange, reports, however, indicate that Binance is exploring options to re-enter the U.S. market.
The post CZ Declares He Won’t Return to Binance After Trump Pardon – What’s Going On? appeared first on Cryptonews.
