As per a latest report by The Wall Street Journal, representatives of US President Donald Trump's family have engaged in deal talks to acquire a financial stake in the US arm of Binance.
Though the world's largest crypto exchange by trading volume, Binance has often been embroiled in controversies.
In 2023, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sued the exchange for selling unregistered securities. The exchange pleaded guilty to violating anti-money-laundering (AML) norms. Binance founder Changpeng "CZ" Zhao also pleaded guilty to the same charge and was sentenced to four months in prison in 2024. He had stepped down as the company's CEO yet remains its largest shareholder.
The report alleges that CZ has been trying to get the Trump administration to pardon him. Binance has been trying to enter into a business deal with the Trump family so that it can again establish itself in the US. Whether the deal is conditional on CZ's pardon is not clear. Trump's Middle East envoy and old friend Steve Witkoff is a part of the negotiations in the matter, as per the report.
CZ is trying to follow in the footsteps of Justin Sun, the founder of the Tron blockchain. As the SEC sued him for selling unregistered securities in 2023, he invested $30 billion in World Liberty Financial in November 2024. It is a crypto venture co-founded by Witkoff's son and backed by the Trump family. In February 2025, the SEC, Tron, and Sun jointly urged a court to stop the proceedings against Sun.
Similarly, the SEC and Binance jointly urged a court to pause a separate civil case against the exchange and its US arm in February 2025. Binance executives also contemplated investing in World Liberty Financial to secure a pardon for CZ, the report claims.
If CZ secures a pardon in the US, it would not only open the US market for Binance but even let it operate globally in a much easier manner.
CZ has made the UAE his residence for now. On March 12, Binance announced that it has $2 billion in investment from a state-owned investment firm in the UAE. It is the single-largest investment into a crypto venture ever.
