Representatives of the family of US President Donald Trump are negotiating the acquisition of a part of the US division of the largest cryptocurrency exchange Binance. The news comes as Binance tries to return to the US market after legal problems in the past.
Billionaire and founder of Binance Changpeng Zhao served four months in prison in 2024 after pleading guilty to violating U.S. anti-money laundering laws as part of a $4.3 billion settlement agreement that put an end to a multi-year investigation. CZ, which is still the largest shareholder in Binance, reportedly asked for a pardon from the Trump administration.
The negotiations allegedly began after Binance approached Trump’s allies last year with a proposal to conclude a business deal. This was part of Binance’s strategy to return to the United States. The form of the Trump family’s potential stake in the deal remains unknown. For example, it could be transferred through World Liberty Financial.
There were talks that Steve Witkoff, a close friend of Trump and his chief negotiator on the Middle East and the war in Ukraine, was involved in the negotiations. However, a representative of the US presidential administration denied Witkoff’s involvement.
Rumors about the acquisition of Binance’s stake have raised concerns about a potential conflict of interest, as Trump actively supports the crypto industry, which financially supported his election campaign.
CZ himself denied the publication a few minutes ago:
Fact: 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. Feels like the article is motivated as an attack on the President and crypto, and the residual forces of the “war on crypto” from the last administration are still at work.
In the fall of 2024, it was reported that the media company Trump Media and Technology Group (TMTG), which owns the Truth Social network, was in negotiations on the acquisition of the Bakkt cryptocurrency exchange by way of a share exchange. Since then, there has been no news about further developments. But in early March of this year, it became known that Apex Fintech is also considering the acquisition of Bakkt. How writes Axios, in 2022, Bakkt acquired Apex’s cryptocurrency operations for $200 million.
Source: The Wall Street Journal
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