Binance founder Changpeng Zhao was sentenced to four months in federal prison on April 30, 2024, after pleading guilty to a Bank Secrecy Act offense involving Binance’s failure to maintain an effective anti-money-laundering program. He did not plead guilty to personally laundering money. The Associated Press reported in October 2025 that President Donald Trump pardoned Zhao after he served the sentence; the pardon’s precise legal terms are not established here.
What Zhao pleaded guilty to
On November 21, 2023, Zhao, Binance’s founder and then-CEO, pleaded guilty to violating the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) by causing Binance to fail to implement an effective anti-money-laundering program, according to the U.S. Department of Justice case summary. The distinction matters: the admitted offense concerned the company’s anti-money-laundering controls, not Zhao personally laundering funds.
Binance entered separate corporate guilty pleas involving BSA violations, failure to register as a money-transmitting business, and the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, as described in Attorney General Merrick B. Garland’s announcement of the pleas. Zhao’s individual plea and Binance’s corporate resolution were related but distinct proceedings and penalties.
How the four-month sentence compared with the requests
On April 30, 2024, U.S. District Judge Richard A. Jones sentenced Zhao to four months in prison. Prosecutors had sought three years; Zhao’s defense attorneys asked for no prison time, the Associated Press reported.
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| Sentencing position | Prison term | Source and context |
|---|---|---|
| Sentence imposed | Four months | U.S. District Judge Richard A. Jones, April 30, 2024; AP |
| Prosecutors’ request | Three years | Prosecution request reported by AP in 2024 |
| Defense request | No prison time | Defense request reported by AP in 2024 |
At sentencing, AP reported Zhao said: “I failed here. I deeply regret my failure, and I am sorry.”
Zhao’s fine was separate from Binance’s multibillion-dollar penalty
The plea agreement included an agreed $50 million personal fine for Zhao, according to AP’s 2024 sentencing report. Separately, Binance agreed to pay a total financial penalty of $4,316,126,163, comprising forfeiture and a criminal fine, according to the DOJ’s 2023 announcement. DOJ also said Binance agreed to remediation and an independent monitor. The company’s penalty and compliance obligations were not Zhao’s personal fine.
The later reported pardon
In October 2025, AP reported that President Donald Trump pardoned Zhao and that Zhao had served his four-month prison sentence. The report establishes the pardon as a later development, but its precise legal terms and scope are not established here. Binance’s current monitorship status is also not established by the cited accounts.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Why the legal wording matters
News descriptions sometimes compress the case into a claim that Zhao was sentenced for “money laundering.” The more precise account is that he admitted to a BSA violation tied to Binance’s failure to maintain an effective anti-money-laundering program. Binance itself pleaded guilty to separate corporate offenses. Keeping those facts separate clarifies what Zhao admitted, what the company admitted, and which penalties applied to each.
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