Representatives of President Donald Trump’s family have reportedly engaged in discussions to acquire a financial stake in Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange. The talks, confirmed by individuals familiar with the matter, come as Binance’s billionaire founder, Changpeng Zhao—widely known as CZ—actively seeks a presidential pardon from the Trump administration following his 2023 guilty plea to violating U.S. anti-money-laundering laws.
The potential business deal and Zhao’s pardon request underscore Trump’s growing influence in the crypto sector, spotlighted by his recent pardon of Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht and the launch of Trump-branded meme coins.
According to sources cited by The Wall Street Journal, the Trump family negotiations with Binance’s U.S. operations began last year as part of a broader effort to bring the exchange back into the American market after years of legal scrutiny. Binance, which pleaded guilty in November 2023 to breaches of anti-money-laundering regulations, agreed to pay a staggering $4.3 billion in fines as part of a settlement with U.S. authorities.
Zhao, who stepped down as CEO during the resolution of the case, personally pleaded guilty to related charges and served a four-month prison sentence, concluding in September 2024. Despite his conviction, Zhao retains his position as Binance’s largest shareholder, wielding significant influence over the company’s direction.
The timing of the Trump family’s talks with Binance has raised eyebrows, particularly as Zhao has publicly expressed openness to a pardon. In a December 2024 post on X, Zhao stated, “No wish to be CEO again. But definitely wouldn’t mind a pardon,” signalling his desire to clear his federal record, which continues to limit his business prospects.
Industry figures, including Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson, have echoed this call, urging Trump to pardon Zhao to bolster the crypto sector’s growth. Sources suggest that Binance approached Trump allies in 2024 with offers of a business partnership, though the specifics of the Trump family’s potential stake, and whether it hinges on a pardon, remain unclear.
Trump’s engagement with Binance aligns with his increasingly pro-crypto stance, a sharp reversal from his earlier scepticism when he labelled digital currencies a “scam” in a 2021 Fox Business interview.
Since returning to the presidency in January 2025, Trump has embraced the crypto industry with unprecedented enthusiasm. One of his first acts as president was signing an executive order on January 20 to establish a strategic cryptocurrency reserve using government-held tokens.
This move, coupled with his nomination of crypto-friendly figures like Paul Atkins to head the Securities and Exchange Commission, signals a regulatory shift aimed at making the U.S. the “crypto capital of the planet,” as Trump pledged during his campaign.
The Trump meme coins
A hallmark of Trump’s crypto involvement has been his family’s foray into meme coins. On January 18, 2025, just two days before his inauguration, Trump announced the launch of $TRUMP, an “Official Trump Meme” coin featuring an image of him raising his fist after surviving a July 2024 assassination attempt. Marketed with the slogan “FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT,” the coin’s value soared, reaching a market cap of $15 billion within 36 hours, according to Chainalysis.
Following closely on January 20, First Lady Melania Trump unveiled her own meme coin, $MELANIA, which peaked above $13 before dropping below $5 amid a mixed reception. Featuring a black-and-white photo of Melania smiling, the coin briefly surpassed a $2 billion valuation.
Also, the Trump family’s 75% revenue share in World Liberty Financial, a decentralized finance platform launched in September 2024 with $300 million in token sales, further cemented their financial stake in crypto’s rise.
Trump pardoned Silk Road CEO, Ross Ulbricht
Trump’s crypto-friendly policies gained further prominence with his pardon of Ross Ulbricht, the founder of the Silk Road darknet marketplace, on January 22, 2025. Ulbricht, convicted in 2015 of money laundering and drug trafficking, had served a decade of a double-life sentence without parole. Trump’s decision, announced on Truth Social, fulfilled a campaign promise to commute Ulbricht’s sentence “on day one,” a move he attributed to gratitude for libertarian support during his election bid.
“The scum that worked to convict him were some of the same lunatics who weaponized the government against me,” Trump wrote, framing the pardon as a rebuke of overzealous prosecution.
This development has sparked debate over potential conflicts of interest. Some warn that the president’s personal financial interests could influence regulatory decisions, especially as he has vowed to ease oversight of the crypto industry. Posts on X reflect a polarized public sentiment: some laud the “art of the deal,” while others decry it as a repeat of past political favouritism.
Zhao has rubbished WSJ’s claim, saying, “Sorry to disappoint. The WSJ article got the facts wrong.”
Meanwhile, a pardon could reshape his future in the crypto world.
“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 …It’s good to see that even WSJ thinks I should be pardoned,” Zhao posted on X.
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