BNB, the native cryptocurrency of the BNB Smart Chain (BSC), experienced a notable price increase on Thursday following the announcement that former Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao was granted a presidential pardon by Donald Trump. The token climbed approximately 7% during the day, trading near $1,145 according to market data from The Defiant.
BNB currently ranks as the fourth-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, valued at over $158 billion. Although Binance’s platform underwent rebranding, the BNB Chain ecosystem remains strongly connected to the centralized exchange (CEX) and continues to receive official support from Zhao.
The pardon marks a significant development nearly two years after Zhao pleaded guilty in November 2023 for violations related to U.S. anti-money laundering regulations. As part of a $4.3 billion settlement with the Department of Justice (DoJ), Zhao stepped down from his role as Binance CEO and faced legal restrictions on his involvement with the company.
According to sources cited by the Wall Street Journal, Trump expressed sympathy towards Zhao’s situation, viewing it as political persecution. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt stated that the president utilized his constitutional authority to pardon Zhao, highlighting that the prosecution was conducted under the Biden administration’s heightened enforcement in the cryptocurrency sector.
Binance stands as the largest centralized cryptocurrency exchange in terms of daily trading volume, with reported figures exceeding $24.4 billion in the last 24 hours. This volume significantly surpasses other leading exchanges, which typically see between $3 billion and $4 billion daily. The recent pardon opens the possibility for Zhao to resume executive leadership at Binance, a position he had been barred from holding due to the terms of the DoJ settlement.
Zhao served a four-month prison term following his conviction and was released in September 2024. Since Trump’s election, Zhao and Binance have been publicly linked to the Trump family’s World Liberty Financial crypto initiative, as previously documented by The Defiant. Binance has not issued any official statement in response at the time of publication.
The surge in BNB’s price coincides with broader ecosystem growth. On October 13, BNB hit an all-time high of $1,369.99, despite several days of overall market declines following a major downturn on October 10. Furthermore, on October 9, the BNB Smart Chain network recorded a milestone of 5 trillion gas units used in a single day—reflecting increased on-chain activity largely attributed to the network adopting a reduced standard gas price of 0.05 Gwei from the previous 0.1 Gwei.
This series of developments highlights renewed market interest in both BNB and the Binance ecosystem amid regulatory challenges and evolving leadership dynamics.
