Binance co-founder Changpeng Zhao has ruled out returning to the crypto exchange, despite a pardon from US President Donald Trump opening the door for it to be possible.
Zhao told CNBC’s Squawk Box on Sunday that it’s his understanding that the pardon means the former restrictions “are completely lifted,” but shot down any suggestions of going back to Binance.
“I haven’t really needed to go back. I didn’t really want to. I thought it was a pretty good way for me to step down, away from Binance after seven years,” he said.
“At the time, it was very painful. I didn’t like it. But after, you get used to it. I don’t think it’s good for me to go back. I think we should leave room for other strong leaders to grow,” Zhao added.
A candid conversation from Davos – on prison, pardon, and what freedom means going forward.
Full interview on @CNBC with @andrewrsorkin. Focused on building what’s next. pic.twitter.com/x94llJFac2
— CZ 🔶 BNB (@cz_binance) January 25, 2026
Zhao pleaded guilty in November 2023 to failing to maintain an effective Anti–Money Laundering program at Binance and was later sentenced to four months in prison along with being prohibited from working at the exchange.
Trump pardoned Zhao in October, which drew scrutiny from some US lawmakers over Binance’s ties to Trump-linked crypto ventures, but Trump denied knowing who Zhao was.
Binance doesn’t need a “backseat driver”
Zhao said that Binance hasn’t missed a beat since he stepped down, with “two capable CEOs” at the helm, and increases to several growth metrics, including users and market share.
In a December open letter last year, the exchanges’ leadership, Richard Teng and Zhao’s long-term partner, Yi He, announced the Binance user base had climbed to over 300 million, and the total product trading volume for the year was $34 trillion.
“I just thought, look; they don’t need a backseat driver today. I’m still a shareholder,” Zhao said, adding that he is “just a pretty passive shareholder, and today when I want to give them advice, I just write it on Twitter.”
Bitcoin super cycle on the cards for 2026
Coming into the new year, crypto prices and sentiment have been in decline. However, Zhao predicts Bitcoin (BTC) could experience a super cycle in the next 12 months, and along with others in the space, has speculated its four-year cycle might be dead.
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In economics, a supercycle is an extended period of outsized growth, indicating a major shift underpinned by strong fundamentals over many years, according to CoinMarketCap.
“Normally, Bitcoin follows four-year cycles, if you look at historic data every four years there’s an all-time high, and then there’s a drop,” Zhao explained. “But I think this year, given the US being so pro crypto and every other country is kind of following, I do think we will see this; we will probably break the four-year cycle.”
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