President Donald Trump and Binance founder Changpeng Zhao
Illustration: 731; Photos: Getty Images (1); Bloomberg News (1)
Binance Aided Trump Crypto Firm Before Founder CZ Sought Pardon
The exchange has been a coder, a promoter and an early adopter for World Liberty Financial’s stablecoin, people familiar with the matter say. Critics say the relationship poses a conflict of interest for President Trump.
One of the Trump family’s crypto ventures has received key behind-the-scenes help from the world’s largest digital-asset exchange, whose founder is a convicted felon now seeking a presidential pardon.
Binance wrote the basic code to power USD1, a stablecoin launched by the Trumps’ World Liberty Financial Inc., according to three people familiar with the matter. They asked not to be named because the arrangement was private. Later, Binance’s founder and principal owner, Changpeng Zhao, said publicly that he had applied for a pardon. CZ, as he’s known, pleaded guilty in 2023 to failing to maintain an effective anti-money-laundering program.