Binance has held discussions about selling a stake in its U.S. arm to members of the Trump family, the Wall Street Journal reported today.
It’s believed the company has also considered seeking a pardon for its co-founder Changpeng Zhao. In 2023, the executive pleaded guilty to violating U.S. anti-money laundering rules. Zhao wrote on X today that “the WSJ article got the facts wrong” but didn’t go into much detail.
Binance is the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume. It launched in 2017 and formed a U.S. arm, Binance US, about two years later. According to the Journal, the main purpose of the U.S. arm was to distract financial regulators from the illicit activities of its parent company.
In 2023, Binance and Zhao pleaded guilty to violating U.S. anti-money laundering rules. The company paid a $4.3 billion fine while Zhao stepped down as chief executive and received a four-month prison sentence….
