Changpeng Zhao, left, and US President Donald Trump A new investigative report has ignited a political firestorm, linking President Donald T...
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| Changpeng Zhao, left, and US President Donald Trump |
A new investigative report has ignited a political firestorm, linking President Donald Trump's pardon of Binance co-founder Changpeng Zhao ("CZ") to a lucrative business relationship between the crypto exchange and a Trump-affiliated venture.
According to the report, the world’s largest crypto trading platform, Binance, provided critical assistance that helped World Liberty Financial—a cryptocurrency venture majority-owned by members of the Trump family—increase the value of its shares from $127 million to over $2.1 billion this spring. The technology supporting World Liberty's new stablecoin, USD1, was built by Binance.
This financial boon for the Trump family's company reportedly occurred just before President Trump pardoned Zhao, who had previously pleaded guilty to enabling money laundering and served four months in prison as part of a $4.3 billion settlement with the Justice Department in 2023.
Following Trump's 2024 election win, Binance reportedly created a "high-level task force" to secure a deal with World Liberty and launch a months-long bid for clemency for CZ. The optics of the pardon—which Trump claimed came "at the request of a lot of very good people"—have drawn sharp condemnation from Democrats.
Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren stated that Zhao's actions amounted to "corruption," warning that "Trump is selling pardons to anyone who can personally profit him. It's a shameful abuse of power and a mockery of justice.”
While World Liberty denied that the pardon was discussed or influenced by them, the report highlights the intertwining of major political decisions and high-stakes cryptocurrency ventures at the highest levels of Uamp's administration.
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