Corny NFTs and scammy meme coins apparently aren’t enough to scratch the Trump family’s crypto itch.
According to a Thursday report from The Wall Street Journal, World Liberty Financial (WLF), the Trump family’s fledgling crypto venture, has explored taking a financial stake in the disgraced cryptocurrency exchange Binance. If it wasn’t shady enough, the discussions are reportedly taking place as Binance founder Changpeng Zhao has been courting the Trump administration for a presidential pardon.
The Trump family has been cashing in at every opportunity since the president’s election win in November. Where his first term was riddled with notable transactions to his hotels and resorts, this time around the Trump’s are practically flaunting every new business venture that leverages their White House connections.
In 2023, Binance and Zhao pleaded guilty to financial crimes including money laundering, sanctions violations, and unlicensed operations. Zhao served a four-month sentence and stepped down as CEO of the company, which was slapped with restrictions around conducting business within the United States.
WLF’s discussions about a potential deal with Binance reportedly began last year, when the exchange began exploring ways to revamp its presence in the United States around the time of the election. Sources who spoke to The Wall Street Journal said the company has been encouraged by the Trump administration’s treatment of Chinese-born investor Justin Sun, especially as it pertains to securing a pardon for Zhao. Last month, the Securities and Exchange Commission asked a court to pause a fraud lawsuit against Sun, who just happened to invest over $30 million in World Liberty Financial last November.
WLF is run by three of the president’s sons — Donald Jr., Eric, and Barron — and Steve Witkoff, a longtime friend of the Trumps who is currently serving as the president’s special envoy to the Middle East. Witkoff, who has also been negotiating an end to the war in Ukraine, reportedly has been involved in discussions about a potential deal with Binance.
The exact nature of the negotiations, or what a final deal might look like, remain undefined. But the possibility of WLF either gaining a major stake in Binance or receiving a large windfall seems to be on the table. A pardon for Zhao could potentially grease a deal.
Zhao denied the report on Thursday, writing on X that the piece “got the facts wrong.”
“I have had no discussions of a Binance US deal with … well, anyone. No felon would mind a pardon, especially being the only one in US history who was ever sentenced to prison for a single BSA charge,” he added.
Bloomberg corroborated The Wall Street Journal’s report about WLF discussing a deal with Binance later on Thursday, as Binance’s crypto token jumped in value despite a general cryptocurrency slump.
The reported negotiations are another node in a growing string of dubious financial deals the Trump family has struck in the months since the president won the election. Earlier this week, Bloomberg reported that Donald Trump’s Jr.’s firm, 1789 Capital, had invested $50 million in companies headed by Elon Musk — who currently serves as a chief adviser and policy maker for Trump while also continuing to head his own corporations. In January, Puck News reported that Amazon had agreed to pay $40 million to license a documentary about First Lady Melania Trump. According to a report from Wired earlier this month, the rich and interested can pay $1 million to have dinner with the president at his Mar-a-Lago resort, or $5 million to secure a private audience.
The president is theoretically barred from engaging in private business ventures while occupying the White House, but the Trumps have become masters of milking their side hustles. As Trump fulfills his campaign promise to become the “Crypto President” and relax regulations on the booming industry, he’s not planning on leaving office without getting a slice of the pie.
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