Changpeng Zhao denies Binance made a deal with Donald Trump

There have been reports that the Trump family is exploring the possibility of acquiring a stake in Binance.US through its DeFi project World Liberty Financial. However, Changpeng Zhao has completely denied this.

Pardoning Binance founder Changpeng Zhao could facilitate the exchange's return to the US market.

Binance has been strategizing about this move since Trump won the election and has set up a task force led by CEO Richard Teng.

The Czech Republic has denied the Wall Street Journal report, calling it an attack on Donald Trump and the US cryptocurrency industry.

The latest report suggests that Donald Trump's family is reportedly looking to acquire a stake in cryptocurrency exchange Binance.US. A report from the Wall Street Journal on Thursday also suggested that Binance founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) has been pleading with Trump to pardon him from the ongoing SEC lawsuit. However, CZ denied the report, calling it baseless and an attempt to attack the US President and the US cryptocurrency industry.

Back in 2023, Binance.US pleaded guilty along with Zhao for violating anti-money laundering rules. As a result, Zhao had to serve four months in prison. In addition, the exchange also reached a settlement of up to $4.3 billion with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in the same year.

Related Article: Binance Receives the Largest Single Investment in the History of Cryptocurrency Business, BNB Rise 4.5%

Sources familiar with the matter told the Wall Street Journal that Binance had approached Trump allies last year, hoping to reach a business agreement with the Trump family to resume the operation of Binance.US.

CZ Denies the Report The Wall Street Journal Calls It an Attack on the President of the United States

Zhao Changpeng refuted the recent claims of the Wall Street Journal and expressed disappointment with the untrue content in the article, saying:

"The Wall Street Journal article misunderstood the facts."

According to Zhao Lijian, the Wall Street Journal contacted 20 people and asked them to confirm whether he was involved in the presidential pardon negotiations. He said that the media contacted more people just to confirm the story, but did not provide any specific evidence. "They worked hard to create a story worth reporting," Zhao Lijian commented.

He further stated that the Binance US deal has not been discussed with anyone yet. “No felon would mind a pardon, especially since he is the only person in U.S. history to have been sentenced to prison on a single BSA [Bank Secrecy Act] charge,” wrote CZ. He also wrote:

“It feels like the motivation for this article is an attack on the president and cryptocurrencies, with remnants of the previous administration’s ‘crypto war’ still in play.”

The Wall Street Journal report noted that the Trump family is likely to acquire a stake through its DeFi project World Liberty Financial, which has made huge investments in the cryptocurrency space over the past few months. According to people familiar with the matter, Donald Trump’s longtime partner Steve Witkoff was also involved in discussions to facilitate the deal.

Can Binance US make a comeback?

The Wall Street Journal reported that pardoning Changpeng Zhao could pave the way for Binance to return to the U.S. market. For the Trump family, acquiring a stake in Binance.US would allow them to benefit from a potential resurgence in the U.S. crypto trading space from Coinbase’s former competitor. In addition, an improved U.S. crypto regulatory environment could also help Binance quickly gain market share.

Binance began exploring a return to the U.S. market last year, coinciding with the election of Donald Trump as U.S. president, after regulatory actions caused a sharp decline in business at its U.S. subsidiary. After Trump’s victory, Binance formed a working group led by CEO Richard Teng, which included senior legal and compliance officials, to evaluate potential strategies.

On March 12, Binance announced that UAE government-backed investor MGX had made a $2 billion minority investment in the company, marking the exchange’s first institutional backing.