Trump Family Considering Stake in Binance.US: WSJ
According to the report, the discussions began after Binance approached Trump supporters last year with a deal to bring the exchange back to the United States.
Posted by Parikshit Mishra, Helen Brown | Edited by: Sheldon Reback Updated: March 13, 2025 15:44 UTC Published: March 13, 2025 1:29 UTC
What you need to know:
- A Trump family representative has discussed the possibility of acquiring a stake in the US division of Binance.
- According to World Liberty Financial and the Wall Street Journal, the stake may have been acquired through a project backed by the Trump family.
- Steve Witkoff, a close friend of the US President, took part in the negotiations.
A representative of the Trump family was in talks to buy a stake in Binance's U.S. unit, according to a Wall Street Journal report published Thursday.
The report, citing people familiar with the matter, said the stake may have been acquired through World Liberty Financial, a cryptocurrency project backed by the Trump family.
The report also said that the talks involved a friend of the US president, Steve Witkoff. Witkoff and his family founded World Liberty Financial two months before Trump was elected president in November.
The talks began last year when Binance approached Trump supporters with an offer to strike a deal with the family to bring the cryptocurrency exchange back to the US.
BNB, the native cryptocurrency of Binance-linked BNB Chain, rose 5% on the news, surpassing $600 for the first time in a week.
A Binance.US representative declined to comment on the report. However, Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao said in a post on X that the Journal “misinterpreted the facts.”
“I have not discussed the Binance US deal with, well, anyone,” CZ wrote. The WSJ did not claim that CZ was involved in the negotiations, but rather that Binance executives were involved.
The WSJ also reported that CZ had asked President Trump for a pardon. CZ denied the deal but did not directly answer questions about the pardon request.
“No criminal would turn down a pardon, especially as the only person in US history to be sentenced to prison for a single BSA violation. It feels like the article is an attempt to attack the president and cryptocurrency, and the residual forces of the 'war on crypto' from the previous administration are still in effect. I am always happy to make crypto great everywhere, in the US and beyond. It is nice to see that even the WSJ thinks I should be pardoned,” he continued.
The exchange recently restored its ability to handle fiat US dollars after it lost the ability to deposit and withdraw dollars under the Biden administration.
Former SEC Chairman Gary Gensler previously called Binance.US a “cauldron of fraud” and went to great lengths to crack down on the exchange. As a result, the company lost thousands of customers and was forced to lay off 70% of its staff, incurring billions in losses.
Binance also attracted institutional investment on Wednesday, with Abu Dhabi-based investment firm MGX investing $2 billion in the exchange.
UPDATE (March 11, 13:40 UTC): Added BNB movement data and comment from Binance.
UPDATE (March 11, 13:55 UTC): Added information about Binance.US difficulties in the US market.
UPDATE (March 11, 14:50 UTC): Added Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao's response to the report
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