Binance co-founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao has spent the past year rebuilding influence after serving four months in prison for violating anti-money laundering (AML) rules.
Binance paid a $4.3-billion penalty; Zhao himself is paying a $50-million criminal fine. He also received a lifetime ban from holding an executive position at the exchange.
Over the year following his release in September 2024, Zhao resumed government advisory roles. He moved memecoins with his X posts and fended off claims by the Wall Street Journal that he was courting influence through the Trump family and the World Liberty Foundation.
In mid-September 2025, Zhao updated his X profile introduction from “Ex-@Binance” to “@binance.” Then on October 23, he received a Apology from US President Donald Trump.
These are the moves that keep him related to the person that leads to his forgiveness.
Binance Labs rebrands and YZI labs are expanding
Even without an executive role, Zhao continues to benefit from Binance’s performance. He reportedly still owns nearly 90% of the company.
In February, he posted a screenshot suggesting 98% of his personal crypto investment is in BNB (BNB). Forbes pegs His net worth is approximately $ 87.2 billion, even Zhao insist“I don’t have that.”
Zhao said It was in November 2024 that he did not intend to return to the leadership of the exchange. But following his pardon, the circumstances surrounding his potential involvement in the exchange changed. Binance did not respond to Cointelegraph by press time.
Richard Teng today leading centralized exchangewhile Zhao shifted his focus to Yzi Labs – the venture arm formerly known as Binance Labs – where he took a The mentoring role after its rebrand in January.
Yzi Labs actively raises capital in Crypto, AI and Biotechnology. It led the November 2024 seed round in Astherus, which will eventually become the derivatives platform aster, and recently increased its exposure to ethene.
The firm has backed projects across the infrastructure stack, such as Digital Asset and its Canton Network and US-based BNB Treasury and AspectA. Its most recent big splash was a $1-billion commitment To support the builders on the BNB chain.
A beloved pet becomes a memecoin cash cow
Solana was the undisputed leader in Memecoins in 2024. In 2025, however, the BNB chain gave Solana a run for sol (Sol).
That shift began on Feb. 11, when the BNB chain roadmap reaffirmed its support for the meme ecosystem. Two days later, Zhao shared a long x post about Reunited with his dog, Broccoliafter his legal issues in the US, adding at the end that he is not launching a memecoin but the BNB foundation can reward the top tokens.
The post triggered a wave of BNB memecoin speculation and briefly pushed pancakeswap’s volume ahead of Solana’s main Meme trading spot.
Related: BNB wins ‘Uptober’ amid market crash
By October, the meme of the BNB chain The momentum has not slowed. Network fees led the industry in points, and the chain moved up to second place in several key activity metrics. Its four.meme launchpads even surpassed Solana.fun’s pump of new token creation within days.
Zhao’s beef with the WSJ and the question of forgiveness
One of the first public signs that Zhao is open to being clemency It came in December 2024, when he posted that he “wouldn’t consider a pardon” from Trump.
In March 2025, the Wall Street Journal reported Members of the Trump family held discussions with Binance about taking a stake in the US arm and suggested a connection to Zhao’s desire for a pardon. Zhao the report was rejectedwho claimed that he had no conversation with anyone about a deal with Binance.us. The dispute was widely covered and scrutiny intensified over whether business interests and legal relief were linked. Zhao then called The article “Motivated as an attack on the President and Crypto.”
Tensions rose in May when the Wall Street Journal Published Another story says Zhao acted as a “fixer” by introducing activist Bilal bin Saqib to World Liberty Financial, a crypto venture linked to the Trump family. Zhao called it “another hit piece,” saying he met Saqib for the first time on the same trip and played no part in any introductions.
Around that time, the Democrats in the US Senate question Federal officials for information about reports that Zhao is seeking a pardon while Binance is engaged in political and business dealings.
In a podcast appearance that month, Zhao admitted that his lawyers were Preparing a formal pardon applicationsaying he moved forward with the process after media reports surfaced.
Zhao has become a crypto statesman
Despite his conviction in the US, Zhao continues to act as a global crypto statesman. Many governments have brought him into discussions as they design digital asset strategies.
Malaysia is one of the first in 2025 to seek his input. After conversations involving Discussions with Zhao and his team.
Pakistan went further. In April, the government was formalized Zhao was appointed as a crypto advisor. The country explored the modernization of its financial sector and sought input from key industry players, rather than relying entirely on restrictive supervision.
Related: Countries across Africa are approving new crypto laws as adoption grows
Kyrgyzstan soon appointed him as a strategic advisor as it expanded its involvement in state-backed digital assets. By October, the country launched a StableCoin on the BNB chain and confirmed that BNB will join Bitcoin in the national crypto reserves.
FTX and US law are two recurring headaches for Zhao
In June 2025, Zhao asked a bankruptcy court in Delaware to dismiss the FTX lawsuit. The complaint seeks to recover nearly $1.8 billion from Binance’s 2021 share-buyback deal. FTX states the transaction is a fraudulent transfer funded with customer assets.
Zhao said the claims stray from US law. He argued “every relevant part” of the deal took place on shore. His filing called FTX’s theory “absurd” and accused the company of trying to blame him for Sam Bankman-Fried’s crimes.
FTX also cited the November 2022 X posts about the FTX Token (FTT) sale held by Binance (FTT) as a trigger for the bank run that exposed its discontent. Zhao counters that the posts only revealed a “fraudulent business” that collapsed under its own weight.
Hyperliquid competitor Aster Booms
Aster burst onto the scene in September 2025, quickly challenging hyperliquid’s dominance of onchain derivatives. The platform claimed about $2 billion in total value locked (TVL) on September 18-19, immediately positioning itself as a binance-aligned rival in hyperliquid.
But the momentum came with controversy. Aster’s DEFILLAMA Publicly Delisted Data in early October, citing concerns about data integrity. The data platform has quietly restored the exchange but said the issues have not been resolved.
The tension between Hyperliquid and Binance escalated during the recent $19-billion liquidation event, when Hyperliquid’s Jeff Yan accused the exchange of under-reporting liquidation data to downplay how big things looked. His post specifically named Binance and implied that centralized platforms are dishonest about risk.
Zhao fired back at x, saying“While others tried to ignore, hide, shift the blame, or attack competitors, the main players of the BNB chain ecosystem (Binance, Venus, and more) took hundreds of millions in their own pockets to protect users.”
With a presidential pardon in hand, Zhao is no longer defined by a conviction or a sentence. His detractors argue that a pardon does not undo the actions that led to it. His supporters argue the case against him is political overreach rather than criminal misconduct.
He has put himself at the forefront of the ecosystem by supporting the rapidly growing BNB chain projects and advising governments on crypto strategy. Zhao’s newfound freedom signals whether he and Binance deepen their presence in the US or continue to focus on the broader BNB defi ecosystem.
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