TLDR

• US President Donald Trump pardoned Binance co-founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) on Thursday, wiping his felony record from 2023 money laundering violations
• BNB price jumped 5.5% following the pardon announcement, reclaiming the $1,100 level after trading in a range since last Friday
• Exchange outflows surged 230% between October 20-23, with 3.25 million BNB leaving exchanges as holders moved tokens off platforms
• Large wallet holders (10,000-100,000 BNB) reduced their holdings from 1.43% to 1.20% of total supply, creating potential resistance to further gains
• BNB is currently trading at $1,116, up 11% over the past 30 days and remains the only top-10 cryptocurrency with positive monthly returns

The White House announced Thursday that President Donald Trump granted a pardon to Changpeng Zhao, the co-founder and former CEO of Binance. The pardon comes two years after Zhao pleaded guilty to Anti-Money Laundering violations.

Deeply grateful for today’s pardon and to President Trump for upholding America’s commitment to fairness, innovation, and justice.
🙏🙏🙏🙏

Will do everything we can to help make America the Capital of Crypto and advance web3 worldwide.

(Still in flight, more posts to come.)…

— CZ 🔶 BNB (@cz_binance) October 23, 2025

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump exercised his constitutional authority to pardon Zhao. She stated the Biden Administration prosecuted Zhao despite no allegations of fraud or identifiable victims.

In 2023, Zhao pleaded guilty to AML violations while serving as Binance CEO. He stepped down from his position and served a four-month prison sentence last year. Binance also reached a $4.3 billion settlement with the Department of Justice.

Leavitt declared that the Biden Administration’s war on crypto is over. The pardon removes Zhao’s felony record entirely.

CZ responded on X, thanking the Trump Administration for the pardon. He said he is deeply grateful and pledged to help make America the capital of crypto.

BNB reacted immediately to the news. The cryptocurrency jumped 5.5% to reclaim the $1,100 price level. This move comes after BNB reached a new all-time high of $1,375 nearly two weeks ago.

BNB has been trading in a range between $1,050 and $1,125 since last Friday. The token failed to break above the upper level for six consecutive days before Thursday’s move.

Exchange Activity Shows Strong Movement

Exchange data reveals that BNB outflows increased sharply starting October 20. Net outflows jumped from 982,619 BNB on October 20 to 3.25 million BNB by October 23. This represents a 230% increase in just three days.

When coins leave exchanges, it typically signals that holders plan to keep their tokens rather than sell them. The surge in outflows suggests large holders began accumulating before the pardon announcement.

However, one group of holders has been reducing their positions. Wallets holding between 10,000 and 100,000 BNB decreased their share of total supply. Their holdings dropped from 1.43% on October 14 to 1.20% on October 23.

Technical Levels to Watch

Analyst Open4Profit noted that if BNB breaks above the current range resistance, the price could rally toward all-time high levels. The analyst suggested a potential target of $1,500.

Market watcher CW identified two key resistance zones ahead. The first sits between $1,180 and $1,190. The second resistance area lies between $1,200 and $1,220.

The Relative Strength Index shows a hidden bullish divergence pattern. While BNB price made higher lows since August 2, the RSI made lower lows. This pattern often signals continuation of an uptrend.

BNB found support at $1,105 after dropping from $1,379 on October 13. If the price closes above $1,242, analysts expect a move toward $1,302 and potentially a retest of $1,379.

$BNB: Great moves today with CZ's pardon; this was probably baked in to a degree but nice to see the charts move either way.

BNB ecosystem coins like 4/Aster also moving. I'm conflicted if this is going to continue being the strongest major or not. I'm personally of the opinion… pic.twitter.com/1HF94ygXtP

— Altcoin Sherpa (@AltcoinSherpa) October 23, 2025

Analyst Altcoin Sherpa questioned whether BNB will remain the strongest performer among major cryptocurrencies. He suggested that Solana could outperform in coming weeks, noting that both Ethereum and BNB had strong runs and may need more time to consolidate.

As of this writing, BNB trades at $1,116. The cryptocurrency is up 11% over the past 30 days and stands as the only top-10 coin with positive monthly gains. BNB has posted a 10.5% increase in the monthly timeframe.