Binance co-founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao has spent the previous 12 months rebuilding affect after serving 4 months in jail for violating US Anti-Cash Laundering (AML) guidelines.
Binance paid a $4.3-billion penalty nice; Zhao himself paid a $50-million prison nice. He additionally acquired a lifetime ban from holding an government place on the change.
Over the 12 months that adopted his launch in September 2024, Zhao resurfaced with authorities advisory roles. He moved memecoins along with his X posts and fended off claims by The Wall Road Journal that he was courting affect via the Trump household and the World Liberty Basis.
In mid-September 2025, Zhao up to date his X profile introduction from “ex-@binance” to “@binance.” Then on Oct. 23, he acquired a pardon from US President Donald Trump.
These are the strikes that stored him related within the 12 months main as much as his pardon.
Binance Labs rebrands and YZi Labs expands
Even with out an government function, Zhao continues to profit from Binance’s efficiency. He reportedly nonetheless owns about 90% of the corporate.
In February, he posted a screenshot suggesting that 98% of his private crypto investments are in BNB (BNB). Forbes pegs his web price at roughly $87.2 billion, although Zhao insists, “I don’t have that a lot.”
Zhao stated in November 2024 that he didn’t intend to return to the change’s management. However following his pardon, the circumstances round his potential involvement with the change have modified. Binance didn’t reply to Cointelegraph by press time.
Richard Teng now leads the centralized change, whereas Zhao has shifted his focus to YZi Labs — the enterprise arm previously often known as Binance Labs — the place he took on a mentoring function after its rebrand in January.
YZi Labs has been actively deploying capital in crypto, AI and biotechnology. It led the November 2024 seed spherical in Astherus, which might later grow to be the derivatives platform Aster, and it not too long ago elevated its publicity to Ethena, the issuer of the artificial greenback USDe, which has climbed into the highest 25 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization with greater than $10 billion in circulation.
The agency has additionally backed tasks throughout the infrastructure stack, corresponding to Digital Asset and its Canton Community and US-based 10X Capital’s BNB Treasury initiative and Aspecta. Its most up-to-date huge splash is a $1-billion dedication to assist builders on the BNB Chain.
Beloved pet turns into memecoin money cow
Solana was the undisputed chief in memecoins in 2024. In 2025, nonetheless, BNB Chain has been giving Solana a run for its SOL (SOL).
That shift began on Feb. 11, when BNB Chain’s roadmap reaffirmed its backing for the meme ecosystem. Two days later, Zhao shared an extended X put up about reuniting along with his canine, Broccoli, after his authorized points within the US, including on the finish that he isn’t launching a memecoin however the BNB Basis would possibly reward high tokens.
The put up triggered a wave of BNB memecoin hypothesis and briefly pushed PancakeSwap’s quantity forward of Solana’s most important meme buying and selling venues.
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By October, BNB Chain’s meme momentum hadn’t slowed. Community charges topped the trade at factors, and the chain climbed to second place in a number of core exercise metrics. Its 4.meme launchpad even outpaced Solana’s Pump.enjoyable in new token creation for just a few days.
Zhao’s beef with WSJ and the pardon query
One of many early public indicators that Zhao was open to clemency got here in December 2024, when he posted that he “wouldn’t thoughts a pardon” from Trump.
In March 2025, The Wall Road Journal reported that members of the Trump household had held discussions with Binance about buying a stake in its US arm and instructed a reference to Zhao’s pursuit of a pardon. Zhao rejected the report, claiming that he had no conversations with anybody a few Binance.US deal. The dispute was broadly coated and intensified scrutiny over whether or not enterprise pursuits and authorized aid had been being intertwined. Zhao then known as the article “motivated as an assault on the President and crypto.”
The strain escalated in Might when The Wall Road Journal printed one other story alleging Zhao had acted as a “fixer” by introducing activist Bilal Bin Saqib to World Liberty Monetary, a crypto enterprise related to the Trump household. Zhao known as it “one other hit piece,” saying he met Saqib for the primary time on the identical journey and had no function in any introductions.
Round that point, Democrats within the US Senate requested federal officers for details about experiences that Zhao was looking for a pardon whereas Binance engaged in high-profile political and enterprise interactions.
In a podcast look that month, Zhao admitted that his legal professionals had been making ready a proper pardon software, claiming he moved ahead with the method after the media experiences surfaced.
Zhao turns into a crypto statesman
Regardless of his felony conviction within the US, Zhao has continued to behave as a world crypto statesman. A number of governments have introduced him into discussions as they design digital asset methods.
Malaysia was one of many first in 2025 to hunt his enter. After talks involving officers from Kuala Lumpur and the United Arab Emirates, Malaysian authorities stated that they had been contemplating updates to their crypto regulatory strategy, knowledgeable partially by discussions with Zhao and his crew.
Pakistan went additional. In April, the federal government formally appointed Zhao as a crypto adviser. The nation explored the modernization of its monetary sector and sought insights from main trade gamers, quite than relying solely on restrictive oversight.
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Quickly after, Kyrgyzstan appointed him as a strategic adviser because it expanded its involvement in state-backed digital belongings. By October, the nation had launched a stablecoin on BNB Chain and confirmed that BNB would be a part of Bitcoin in its nationwide crypto reserves.
FTX and US legislation are Zhao’s two recurring complications
In June 2025, Zhao requested a Delaware chapter court docket to dismiss FTX’s lawsuit. The criticism sought to get better nearly $1.8 billion from Binance’s 2021 share-buyback deal. The FTX property alleges the transaction was a fraudulent switch funded with buyer belongings.
Zhao stated the claims stretch US legislation too far. He argued “each pertinent half” of the deal occurred offshore. His submitting calls FTX’s idea “nonsensical” and accuses the corporate of making an attempt guilty him for Sam Bankman-Fried’s crimes.
FTX additionally cites Zhao’s November 2022 X posts about promoting Binance’s FTX Token (FTT) holdings as a set off for the financial institution run that uncovered its insolvency. Zhao counters that the posts solely revealed a “fraudulent enterprise” already collapsing beneath its personal weight.
Hyperliquid competitor Aster booms
Aster exploded onto the scene in September 2025, quickly difficult Hyperliquid’s dominance in onchain derivatives. The platform claimed about $2 billion in whole worth locked (TVL) by Sept. 18-19, immediately positioning itself as a Binance-aligned rival to Hyperliquid.
However momentum got here with controversy. DefiLlama publicly delisted Aster’s information in early October, citing considerations about information integrity. The info platform quietly relisted the change however stated the problems haven’t been resolved.
The strain between Hyperliquid and Binance intensified throughout the latest $19-billion liquidation occasion, when Hyperliquid’s Jeff Yan accused exchanges of under-reporting liquidation information to melt how dangerous issues seemed. His put up particularly named Binance and implied that centralized platforms weren’t being sincere about danger.
Zhao fired again on X, saying, “Whereas others tried to disregard, cover, shift blame, or assault opponents, the important thing BNB Chain ecosystem gamers (Binance, Venus, and extra) took tons of of thousands and thousands out of their very own pockets to PROTECT USERS.”
With a presidential pardon in hand, Zhao is not outlined by a conviction or a sentence. His detractors argue {that a} pardon doesn’t erase the actions that led to it. His supporters argue the case in opposition to him was political overreach quite than prison misconduct.
He has already recentered himself within the ecosystem by backing fast-rising BNB Chain tasks and advising governments on crypto technique. Zhao’s newfound freedom will sign whether or not he and Binance deepen their presence within the US or proceed specializing in the broader BNB DeFi ecosystem.
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