Home Cryptocurrency The Art of the Crypto Deal: The Trumps Talk Binance Investment

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The Art of the Crypto Deal: The Trumps Talk Binance Investment

19 March, 2025

Meanwhile, Binance founder Changpeng Zhao — who served four months in prison after pleading guilty to related charges — is reportedly seeking a pardon from the Trump administration. Zhao, commonly known as CZ, remains the largest shareholder of Binance.

Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, also known as CZ

According to sources, these negotiations began when Binance approached Trump allies last year, proposing a business deal with the former first family as part of its strategy to re-enter the US market.

It is unclear what form the Trump family’s stake would take if a deal is made, or whether it would be contingent on a pardon for Zhao. Possibilities under consideration include direct ownership by the Trump family or a deal structured through World Liberty Financial, a Trump-backed crypto project launched in September last year.

Steve Witkoff, a long-time friend of Trump and currently a senior negotiator for him in the Middle East and the Ukraine war effort, is said to be involved in these negotiations. However, an official denied this information and asserted that Witkoff is in the process of divesting from his business interests.

The line between Trump’s role as a national leader and his personal business dealings is becoming increasingly blurred. His family has profited from his election win, with First Lady Melania Trump signing a $40 million documentary deal and Trump himself seeking tens of millions of dollars from financial agreements with companies he had sued for years — much of which has gone towards funding his presidential library.

However, Trump pursuing a business deal involving a convicted felon seeking a pardon from the US government would be an unprecedented overlap between business and government. Holding a stake in Binance.US would also be a notable expansion of the Trump family’s crypto activities, given Trump’s recent signing of several executive orders favoring the industry.

In an online post on Thursday, Zhao denied discussing the Binance.US deal with anyone. “No criminal is bothered by being pardoned,” he wrote, adding, “I’m always happy to make crypto great everywhere, in the US and the rest of the world.”

Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, was founded by Zhao in 2017 in Shanghai, although the company later claimed to have no official headquarters. US officials accused the exchange of facilitating transactions with sanctioned groups, including Hamas and the Islamic State, while also encouraging US users to conceal their geographic locations to circumvent US anti-money laundering laws.

In 2023, Binance agreed to pay a total of $4.3 billion in fines to settle the charges. As per the agreement, Zhao had to step down as CEO of Binance, but he remains the largest shareholder. He was released from prison in September and is currently living in Abu Dhabi.

Recently, on March 12, Binance announced that MGX, a state-backed investor from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), had purchased a minority stake in the company for $2 billion, marking the first institutional investment in the exchange.

For Binance, a pardon for Zhao would pave the way for the company’s re-entry into the US market and potentially facilitate smoother business operations abroad. For the Trump family, a stake in Binance.US would offer an opportunity to participate in the potential revival of a once-rival to Coinbase in the US crypto exchange market, which is experiencing robust growth as regulations ease.

Vu Hao (According to WSJ)

– 10:29 14/03/2025