- Changpeng Zhao said he isn’t seeking any deals involving Binance.US.
- The Trump family is eyeing a stake in the business, according to a Wall Street Journal report.
- Binance’s presence in the US has been limited in recent years.
Binance co-founder Changpeng Zhao, known as CZ, said he has not sought any deals involving Binance’s US arm.
Zhao’s post on X comes after the Wall Street Journal reported the family of President Donald Trump was in talks to acquire a stake in Binance, even as the company pushes for a presidential pardon for Zhao.
Binance is the world’s largest crypto exchange, though it largely vanished from US markets in 2023 amid regulatory scrutiny.
“I have had no discussions of a Binance US deal with … well, anyone,” the billionaire wrote on X Thursday morning.
“No felon would mind a pardon, especially being the only one in US history who was ever sentenced to prison for a single [Bank Secrecy Act] charge,” he added.
Under Zhao, Binance failed to prevent criminals, sanctioned entities, and other bad actors from laundering billions of dollars in dirty money, according to court papers.
Zhao served a four-month prison sentence last year. He was released in September.
According to the Journal, representatives of the president’s family have discussed taking a financial stake in Binance’s US arm.
Meanwhile, Binance has requested the president pardon Zhao for his 2023 conviction on anti-money laundering charges, the Journal reported, though it was “unclear” whether the Trumps’ possible financial stake in Binance would be contingent upon such a pardon.
Zhao retains a substantial stake in Binance, and a pardon would clear the way for the company to do business in the US and the European Union, according to the Journal.
Any Trump family investment would deepen the president’s already substantial personal involvement in the crypto industry.
Trump and his three sons promote and advise World Liberty Financial, a crypto business that launched last October with the release of its token, WLFI.
Just before his inauguration in January, Trump and his wife Melania released a pair of memecoins that netted the couple billions of dollars.
The president’s crypto forays have raised eyebrows amid anti-corruption experts, who say they offer a loophole for anyone looking to funnel money to Trump anonymously.
Steve Witkoff, a friend of Trump’s who now serves as the president’s lead negotiator in the Middle East, has been involved in the talks, according to unnamed sources cited in the Journal report, though at least one source denied Witkoff’s involvement.
Witkoff and his two sons are co-founders in World Liberty Financial.
Discussions between Binance and the Trump family began around the time of Trump’s November 5 election victory, according to the Journal.
Binance executives drew inspiration from Justin Sun, another crypto billionaire facing scrutiny from US regulators, according to one source cited in the Journal report.
In January, Sun said on X he had invested $75 million in World Liberty. Last month, the SEC paused its lawsuit against the billionaire.
The SEC has paused or dropped several lawsuits against crypto companies in recent weeks as its internal crypto task force reconsiders its approach to regulating the industry.
Zhao wouldn’t be the only crypto entrepreneur to reportedly seek a pardon from Trump in recent weeks.
According to news reports, Zhao’s former rival, Sam Bankman-Fried has sought a pardon for his central role in the fraud that led to the collapse of FTX in 2022, for which he is currently serving a 25-year prison sentence.
Bankman-Fried has given a pair of recent jailhouse interviews in which he cast himself as a victim of partisan lawfare, likening his legal woes to those that once threatened Trump.
Shares of Binance rivals, including Coinbase and Robinhood, fell after the report.
Stocks have been caught in a broader selloff over trade-war jitters as Trump threatened duties on wine from the European Union.
Aleks Gilbert is a DeFi correspondent based in New York. Have a tip? Email him at aleks@dlnews.com.