Donald Trump’s family is reportedly eyeing acquiring a stake in the US arm of the crypto exchange Binance. This comes as the exchange’s founder is allegedly seeking a pardon for his guilty plea in 2023, which led to his imprisonment.
According to a WSJ report, US President Donald Trump’s family representatives have held talks to acquire a stake in Binance’s US arm. This comes just after the top crypto exchange announced that Abu Dhabi-based MGX had invested $2 billion in the exchange to acquire a minority stake.
Meanwhile, the WSJ report also revealed that the exchange’s founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao is also pushing for Trump’s administration to grant him a pardon. Last year, CZ served a four-month sentence after he and Binance US pleaded guilty to anti-money laundering violations. A pardon will wipe Zhao’s criminal record away from the registry, meaning he will no longer be regarded as an ex-convict.
Both the Trump family’s move to acquire a stake in Binance US and CZ’s push for a pardon could intertwine, especially considering that the exchange’s founder is allegedly still the largest shareholder. As such, he could play a major role in Trump’s move to acquire a stake in the top crypto exchange’s US arm.
WSJ also revealed that the talks to acquire a stake in the crypto exchange began after Binance reached out to Trump’s allies in 2024 offering to strike a deal with the family as part of its strategy to revive the exchange’s US arm. It is worth mentioning that the US arm resumed its USD services after Trump took office in January.
According to WSJ, it is still unclear what form the Trump family stake would look like if the deal happens or even whether it would depend on Trump granting CZ a pardon. Meanwhile, the report noted that there is also the possibility of the deal going through World Liberty Financial, which the Trump family has ties with.
In an X post, CZ stated that he has not discussed a Binance US deal with anyone and suggested that he hasn’t pushed for a pardon from Trump’s administration. However, the Binance founder added that no felon would mind a pardon, especially considering he is the only one in US history who has received a prison sentence for a single BSA charge.
Zhao also remarked that WSJ’s article feels like an attack on the US President and crypto and the residual forces of the war on crypto from the last administration are still at work. He stated that he is always happy to make crypto everywhere, in the US and the rest of the world.
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