Trump family held talks with Binance for stake in crypto exchange — Report

Representatives of US President Donald Trump’s family have reportedly held talks with Binance about acquiring a stake in the crypto exchange.

Binance reached out to Trump’s family representatives in 2024, offering to strike a deal as part of a plan to resume Binance.US operations in the country, The Wall Street Journal reported on March 13.

Citing sources familiar with the matter, the report mentioned that Binance’s billionaire founder Changpeng Zhao — who served four months in prison in the US — has been pushing for the Trump administration to grant him a pardon.

“It is unclear what form the Trump family stake would take if the deal comes together or whether it would be contingent on a pardon,” the report said.

World Liberty Financial among deal options

According to WSJ, a potential opportunity could be a scenario where Trump takes the stake in Binance or proceeds with the deal through World Liberty Financial (WLFI), a Trump-backed crypto venture launched in September 2024.

Trump has emerged as the first US “crypto president,” launching his Official Trump (TRUMP) memecoin days before returning to the White House on Jan. 20. A similar memecoin subsequently came from Trump’s wife, Melania, while Trump’s son, Eric Trump, has been actively pushing for Bitcoin (BTC) and crypto adoption.

Cointelegraph approached Binance for a comment regarding the report on the alleged deal but did not receive a response by publication.

Additionally, Binance executives anticipated a potential legal resolution in the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) civil case against Tron founder Justin Sun, The WSJ reported.

Sun, who in November 2024 announced a $30 million investment in Trump’s WLFI, jointly asked a US court to halt his case with the SEC in February 2025.

Neither Sun nor any Binance representatives attended the first White House Crypto Summit on March 7, 2025.

Trump slams WSJ for “polluted thinking” of the EU

Minutes before the WSJ article was published at 1:00 pm UTC, Trump took to Truth Social to slam the publication for allegedly reporting wrong information.

“The Globalist Wall Street Journal has no idea what they are doing or saying. They are owned by the polluted thinking of the European Union, which was formed for the primary purpose of ‘screwing’ the United States of America,” the president wrote.

While Trump was fast to address the WSJ report minutes before its publication, key Trump-linked industry figures — including Elon Musk and David Sacks — did not react to the news on social media.

Zhao subsequently took to X to deny the allegations, suggesting that the WSJ article is “motivated as an attack on the president and crypto.”

“Fact: I have had no discussions of a Binance.US deal with … well, anyone,” CZ wrote.

Related: Donald Trump’s memecoin generated $350M for creators: Report

Binance CEO praises Trump as a catalyst for a “global pro-crypto shift”

Meanwhile, Binance CEO Richard Teng did not immediately respond to the report within the first hour of its publication.

Instead, Teng took to X on March 13 to highlight his new interview with CNBC, where he praised Trump as a catalyst for a “global pro-crypto shift.” Teng expressed confidence that the crypto industry is widely supporting Trump, stating:

“If you ask anybody in the crypto industry, people prefer the current administration compared to the last one.”

Still, some apparently have not been happy with all of Trump’s crypto policies, with many advocating for Bitcoin-only US reserves instead of a multi-crypto approach that has been eventually chosen by the administration.

House Democrats have also been concerned about the plummeting TRUMP memecoin, proposing legislation to ban the issuance of memecoins by any US public officials.

Magazine: Trump’s crypto ventures raise conflict of interest, insider trading questions