Reports suggest Trump’s family is exploring the possibility of acquiring a stake in Binance.US through their DeFi project World Liberty Financial. However, Zhao denied this completely.
The latest reports suggest that Donald Trump’s family is reportedly seeking to acquire a stake in Binance.US, the US arm of the crypto exchange. A report from the Wall Street Journal on Thursday also suggested that Binance founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) has been pleading to Trump to grant him a pardon in the ongoing SEC lawsuit. However, CZ has denied the report calling it baseless and an attempt to attack the US President and the US crypto industry.
Back in 2023, Binance.US, along with Zhao, pleaded guilty for violating the anti-money laundering rules. As a result, Zhao had to serve four months in prison. Furthermore, the exchange also struck a costly $4.3 billion settlement with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in the same year.
Sources familiar with the matter told WSJ that Binance reached out to Trump allies last year with the hope of striking a business deal with the Trump family with the goal of reviving operations back for Binance.US.
CZ Denies the Report WSJ Calling It an Attack on US President
Changpeng Zhao has refuted recent claims by WSJ while expressing disappointment over what he described as inaccuracies in the article, stating:
“The WSJ article got the facts wrong.”
As per Zhao, WSJ approached 20 people asking them to confirm whether he had engaged in any talks for a presidential pardon. He said that the outlet reached out to more people just to substantiate the story, but without providing any concrete evidence. “They tried hard to make a story to report,” CZ remarked.
He further said that there have been no discussions of a deal for Binance US with anyone. “No felon would mind a pardon, especially being the only one in US history who was ever sentenced to prison for a single BSA [Bank Secrecy Act] charge,” wrote CZ. He further wrote:
“Feels like the article is motivated as an attack on the President and crypto, and the residual forces of the “war on crypto” from the last administration are still at work.”
The WSJ report noted there’s enough possibility that the Trump family could acquire a stake through their DeFi project World Liberty Financial, which has made heavy investments in the crypto space over the past few months. Donald Trump’s long-term associate Steve Witkoff has reportedly been involved in discussions to broker a deal, according to sources familiar with the matter.
Can Binance US Make a Comeback?
The WSJ report states that a pardon to Changpeng Zhao could lead the way for Binance’s re-entry into the US market. For the Trump family, acquiring a stake in Binance.US would position them to benefit from the potential resurgence of a former rival to Coinbase in the US crypto trading space. Furthermore, the improving crypto regulatory landscape in the US could also help Binance quickly gain market share.
After regulatory actions caused a significant decline in its US arm’s business, Binance began exploring a return to the US market last year, coinciding with Trump’s election victory. Following his win, Binance established a working group led by CEO Richard Teng, including senior legal and compliance officials, to evaluate potential strategies.
On March 12, Binance announced that state-backed UAE investor MGX had made a $2 billion minority investment in the company, marking the exchange’s first institutional backing.
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