CZ says any ‘refund’ would be invested in the U.S.
On Nov 17, 2025, Binance founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) replied to an X question about the $4.3B paid under the 2023 U.S. settlement. He said that if a refund ever occurred, he would direct it into the United States, adding that he hasn’t asked for one.
CZ posted the reply at 8:42 AM, and Wu Blockchain summarized it at 8:57 AM, linking back to CZ’s thread as the exchange quickly drew tens of thousands of views. Wu also reminded readers that the $4.3B stemmed from coordinated actions by the DOJ, FinCEN, OFAC, and the CFTC.
In late Oct 2025, CZ received a presidential pardon after pleading guilty in 2023 and serving a four‑month sentence in 2024. A pardon, however, does not automatically entitle recipients to reclaim funds already paid into the U.S. Treasury, and it does not erase parallel civil or regulatory obligations agreed in consent orders. In practice, a pardon can sometimes remit unpaid criminal penalties; reversing completed payments generally requires a separate court or agency process to modify the underlying orders – a bar far higher than a public request on social media.
The structure of the $4.3B also complicates any hypothetical reimbursement. The figure bundled criminal and civil components across Justice and Treasury regulators alongside a separate CFTC order – raising even the basic question of who would be the counterparty to any refund (Binance or CZ, criminal or civil side). Separately, the multi‑year monitoring and remediation obligations agreed with U.S. agencies continue irrespective of the pardon, including strengthened controls around KYC/AML, sanctions screening, and reporting.
“If we get any refund, we will be investing that in America… Haven’t asked yet,” CZ wrote. As phrased, the comment reads as a hypothetical, not a signal that any formal petition or motion has been filed.
The remark is a goodwill signal to U.S. stakeholders, not evidence that a refund is in motion. For markets, the gap between viral sound bites and binding legal processes is material: it shapes expectations for Binance’s U.S. posture and the pace of compliance milestones. Without a separate, formal process, repayments of funds already paid are improbable, and monitoring obligations continue regardless of the pardon.
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