Trump Pardons Changpeng Zhao, Founder of the Crypto Exchange Binance NYT | Top Stories By: David Yaffe-Bellany and Kenneth P. Vogel 24 October 2025 at 02:06 Changpeng Zhao, the richest man in crypto, had admitted to money-laundering violations that allowed terrorists and other criminals to move money on Binance. © Katarina Premfors for The New York TimesChangpeng Zhao, the co-founder and former chief executive of Binance at the Token 2049 event in Dubai in April.