BNB saw a 5.5% price jump following the White House’s announcement that the Binance co-founder had been pardoned by US President Donald Trump, leading some analysts to suggest a fresh rally could be around the corner.
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US President pardons Binance founder
On Thursday, the White House revealed that US President Donald Trump had pardoned Binance co-founder and former CEO Changpeng Zhao, also known as CZ, two years after he pleaded guilty.
In an official statement, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the US president “exercised his constitutional authority in granting clemency to Zhao, who was prosecuted by the Biden administration in its war on cryptocurrency.”
Leavitt stated that “In a desire to punish the cryptocurrency industry, the Biden administration prosecuted Mr. Zhao despite no allegations of fraud or identifiable victims.”
In 2023, Zhao pleaded guilty to anti-money laundering (AML) violations while he was CEO of Binance. As part of his plea deal, he resigned from his position at the cryptocurrency exchange last year and served a four-month prison sentence. Additionally, Binance reached a $4.3 billion settlement with the Department of Justice (DOJ).
The White House press secretary stated that “these actions of the Biden administration have severely damaged the United States’ reputation as a global leader in technology and innovation,” declaring that “the Biden administration’s war on cryptocurrencies is over.”
Notably, there have been rumors that President Trump may pardon Zhao following his January pardon of Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht. In March, the Wall Street Journal reported that Zhao would “push” a Binance US deal to pardon from 2024. However, he quickly denied these claims.
In a post on The Binance co-founder also pledged to “do everything we can to help make America the cryptocurrency capital.”
CZ pardon pushes BNB to $1,100
Following the news, BNB jumped 5.5% to regain the $1,100 mark. The cryptocurrency has seen a massive rally in recent months, reaching a new all-time high (ATH) of $1,375 nearly two weeks ago.
Altcoin Sherpa highlighted the altcoin price action in the context of recent market performance. However, he expressed doubts about whether BNB “will continue to be the strongest major or not,” at least in the short term.
He suggested that Solana (SOL) could perform better in the coming weeks, arguing that “both ETH and BNB have had incredible performances previously and probably need more time to relax.”
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Since last Friday’s correction, BNB has been trading within the $1,050-1,125 range, failing to break above the upper level for the past six days. Analyst Open4Profit noted that if the altcoin reclaims range resistance, the price could rise towards its ATH levels and continue its uptrend towards the $1,500 target.
Market watcher CW pointed out that BNB has two key sell walls ahead of it, one in the $1,180-$1,190 area and another between $1,200-$1,220, suggesting that the altcoin could face resistance around these levels if the price were to break out.
As of this writing, BNB is trading at $1,116, up 10.5% on the month.
Featured image from Unsplash.com, chart from TradingView.com