The family of US President Donald Trump is discussing the possibility of acquiring a stake in BinanceUS, the US division of the world’s largest crypto exchange, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported.
Several options for the deal are being considered, including the possibility that Trump’s participation could be formalized through World Liberty Financial, the crypto project of the president’s sons, the publication’s sources said.
In late 2023, Binance pleaded guilty to charges of violating U.S. anti-money laundering laws and agreed to pay the government a $4.3 billion fine. The exchange’s founder, Changpeng Zhao, spent four months in prison and was forced to step down as the company’s CEO.
Zhao is now asking Trump for a pardon, the WSJ writes. This will make it easier for Binance to operate in the US and the European Union, where businessmen convicted of financial crimes are not eligible to obtain a license for their company (Zhao remains the majority shareholder of Binance).
Binance began looking for ways to return to the US shortly after Trump’s victory in the US presidential election. To do so, the exchange created a working group led by its CEO Richard Teng, the magazine reported.
The Binance team discussed a scheme similar to Justin Sun’s case – in November 2024, he invested $30 million in World Liberty Financial, while the US Securities and Exchange Commission ( SEC ) was conducting proceedings against him. Shortly after the deal with Trump’s company, the SEC suspended the proceedings, WSJ noted.
Binance recently banned market makers GoPlus Security (GPS) and MyShell (SHELL) for trading violations and confiscated their earnings to compensate affected users.
