Democratic senators have pressed a demand for an investigation into the links between the Trump family-backed crypto venture and the Binance crypto exchange, Bloomberg reported on May 9.
As per the news report, Democratic senators including Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) have written a letter to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Attorney General Pam Bondi.
In the letter, the senators have raised concerns about President Donald Trump's connection to Binance, the world's largest crypto exchange that was found guilty of money laundering and sanction norms violations in November 2023.
Binance co-founder Changpeng "CZ" Zhao had also pleaded guilty, stepped down from his role as CEO, and served four months in a U.S. prison.
"Our concerns about Binance's compliance obligations are even more pressing given recent reports that the company is using the Trump family's stablecoin to partner with foreign investment companies," Bloomberg cited from the letter, which the publication claims it has seen.
The senators have asked Bessent and Bondi to report by May 21 on the steps taken to ensure Binance is complying with its plea agreement, the report mentions.
The group also pressed for details on whether Binance discussed a potential pardon for Zhao with any Treasury or Justice Department officials. They have also asked if Binance talked about the Trump family-backed World Liberty Financial or its interest in listing a new stablecoin on Binance with the officials.
Following the connections
As reported earlier , Trump's son Eric said that the USD1 stablecoin, a financial product launched by World Liberty Financial, will be used to settle the $2 billion investment from Abu Dhabi-based tech firm MGX into Binance — one of the largest crypto deals ever.
Notably, MGX earlier teamed up with OpenAI, SoftBank Group, and Oracle to support Trump's $100 billion AI plan.
It doesn't just end here.
Representatives of the Trump family reportedly held talks to get a stake in the U.S. arm of Binance, as reported on March 13 . Only recently, Zhao said in an interview that he has asked President Trump for a pardon.
"The notion that this administration might permit Binance to continue operating and expanding in the United States is deeply troubling," the letter read.
On May 8, Senate Democrats stalled the stablecoin legislation known as the GENIUS Act. They argued that the bill unless reworked, could help Trump enrich himself.
TheStreet Roundtable has reached out to a Binance representative for comment and will update the story once a response is received.
