All of Trump’s pardons for prominent crypto figures – so far

Donald Trump used his pardon power to reshape the federal approach to crypto enforcement in 2025, acquitting some of the most high-profile defendants the industry has had to date. The moves signaled a political shift in Washington and raised questions about how the United States would oversee digital assets during Trump’s second term.

“Politics drove this thing,” Trump said on Truth Social as he announced his first pardon, calling the administration’s previous actions “ridiculous.” The statement summarized the broader strategy to position crypto within a national political struggle and undo years of enforcement actions that sought to shape the industry’s boundaries.

Ulbricht pardon overturns landmark cybercrime case

Trump granted his first crypto-related pardon in January when he granted clemency to Silk Road creator Ross Ulbricht. Ulbricht had served more than a decade in prison, including two life sentences, for running the dark web marketplace and for money and narcotics laundering related to Bitcoin transactions.

The pardon fulfilled a long-standing promise Trump made to libertarian voters and Bitcoin supporters who favored the Free Ross campaign. Months later, Ulbricht appeared at the Bitcoin 2025 conference and told attendees, “Just a few months ago I was trapped behind those prison walls… now I’m free, and it’s because of you,” adding that Trump “had done what he said he would do.”

Advocates viewed the decision as overdue relief for a figure associated with crypto’s earliest days. Critics, including former prosecutors, argued it undermined a historic cybercrime prosecution. U.S. Representative Thomas Massie publicly praised the pardon to X.

BitMEX founders cleared of AML violations

In March, Trump pardoned BitMEX co-founders Arthur Hayes, Benjamin Delo and Samuel Reed, as well as early employee Greg Dwyer. All had pleaded guilty in 2022 to violations of the Bank Secrecy Act for failing to implement required anti-money laundering checks.

BitMEX tried to move past the case at the time, describing the case as “old news” after the guilty pleas. Each defendant received probation and financial penalties, but the pardons cleared their criminal records. Hayes thanked Trump on X shortly after the announcement.

The decision marked a significant break from the previous administration’s push to apply strict compliance standards to cryptocurrency exchanges serving US customers.

Zhao pardon fuels accusations of political corruption

While Trump’s pardon of Ulbricht and the founders of BitMEX drew criticism from his rivals, the sharpest reactions came from Trump’s pardon of Binance founder Changpeng Zhao in October. In November 2023, Zhao, who founded the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, pleaded guilty to anti-money laundering offenses. CZ served a four-month prison sentence in 2024.

The White House described the pardon as the end of “the Biden administration’s war on crypto.” Senator Chris Murphy accused Binance of trying to influence the government’s crypto agenda, citing the Trump-linked stablecoin USD1 and a $2 billion deal in Abu Dhabi involving the token. The allegations have not been proven, but have led to renewed scrutiny of ties between the government and Trump’s family business, World Liberty Financial.

In a 60 Minutes interview, Trump denied any personal connection to Zhao. “I don’t know who he is,” he said, describing Zhao as “a respected man” who had been “the victim of a Biden witch hunt.” When asked about his sons’ business ties, Trump said: “They run a business, they’re not in government.”

Zhao expressed “deep gratitude” to X after the pardon, but has not returned to a leadership role at Binance.

Political consequences and policy change

Advocates said the president has kept his promise to reduce federal pressure on the industry. Critics warned that the decisions blur the line between policy and political loyalty.

“First, Changpeng Zhao pleaded guilty to a charge of money laundering, then boosted one of Donald Trump’s crypto ventures and lobbied for a pardon,” Senator Elizabeth Warren said in a statement. “Today, Donald Trump did his part and pardoned him. If Congress does not stop this kind of corruption in the pending market structure legislation, it will control this lawlessness.”

Together, the pardons marked a change in federal attitudes toward cryptocurrency in 2025 and set the stage for new conflict over how aggressively the government would regulate cryptocurrencies heading into 2026.