In 2023, crypto exchange Binance and its CEO and founder, Changpeng Zhao, pleaded guilty to violating U.S. money laundering laws. Now, an investigation finds that representatives of President Trump’s family have been in talks to take a financial stake in the U.S. arm of Binance. At the same time, Zhao has pushed the Trump administration to grant him a pardon. WSJ’S Rebecca Ballhaus brings exclusive reporting. Further Reading: - Trump Family Has Held Deal Talks With Binance Following Crypto Exchange’s Guilty Plea - How the Trumps Turned an Election Victory Into a Cash Bonanza Further Listening: - Love Trump? Now You Can Buy His Meme Coin - Inside the Trump Crypto Bromance Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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President Trump has made crypto a big part of his agenda. He's even called himself the crypto president.
Last year, I promised to make America the Bitcoin superpower of the world and the crypto capital of the planet, and we're taking historic action to deliver on that promise, as you know.
And today, the Wall Street Journal came out with a big scoop on a potential deal between the Trump family and a crypto giant.
Our reporting shows that representatives of Trump's family have held talks to take a financial stake in the U.S. arm of Binance, which is a crypto exchange that in 2023 pleaded guilty and paid a pretty massive fine after it was accused of violating anti-money laundering requirements.
That's investigative reporter Rebecca Ballhouse. And according to Rebecca's reporting, not only is the Trump family in talks about a stake in Binance, but the founder of Binance, a convicted felon, is also asking for a presidential pardon.
And so the fact of someone, you know, pushing for an official government action from the president at the same time as accompanies in talks with the president's family or representatives of the president's family is just a pretty striking mixture between official and personal business.
In an ordinary administration, the family of a president pursuing a business deal like this, particularly in an industry that the president is actively making rules for and sort of doing things that the industry has long wanted, would in any ordinary administration be an enormous scandal.
In this administration, I would say, you know, the Trump Organization has been pretty upfront about the fact that they're not going to stop pursuing business deals. But I think the really shocking thing is just this sort of idea of pursuing a business deal as a pardon is also being sought. It certainly creates the appearance of a conflict, even if it's not an exchange of one for the other.
Welcome to The Journal, our show about money, business, and power. I'm Kate Linebaugh. It's Thursday, March 13th. Coming up on the show, the Trump family, a possible crypto deal, and maybe even a presidential pardon. What is Binance and who founded it?
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