According to a recent report by The Wall Street Journal, Binance founder Changpeng Zhao has pardoned Binance founder Changpeng Zhao by US President Donald Trump.
The report, which cites people familiar with the matter, says that the pardon was signed on Wednesday.
The news does not come as a complete surprise. As reported by U.Today, Fox Business's Charles Gasparino revealed that Binance was on the verge of securing a pardon earlier this month.
CZ himself confirmed that his lawyers applied for a pardon during a podcast appearance earlier this year.
The price of the BNB token is up 5.1% on the news, according to CoinGecko data. It reached an intraday high of $1,138 shortly after the news broke.
Crypto community's reactions
The cryptocurrency community is already busy reacting to the WSJ report, with Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson sending his congratulations to the former Binance CEO.
"The weaponization of the justice department against our industry and its entrepreneurs should have never happened. It was and still is a deep wound that will take a long time to heal," he said in a social media post.
Bitcoin evangelist Anthony Pompliano claims that it is "great" to see Zhao receive a pardon. "There is no place for political targeting in the US justice system, regardless of which side does it," Pompliano stressed.
This is a developing news story. Stay tuned for updates.
Dan Burgin
Vladislav Sopov
U.Today Editorial Team