Representatives of US President Donald Trump’s family have reportedly held talks with Binance about potentially acquiring a stake in the crypto exchange.
Binance reached out to Trump’s family representatives in 2024, offering to strike a business 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, a Trump-backed crypto venture launched in September.
Trump has emerged as the US first “crypto president,” launching his Official Trump (TRUMP) memecoin days before returning to the White House on Jan. 20, 2025. 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 as well.
Cointelegraph approached Binance for a comment regarding the report on the alleged deal but did not receive a response by publication.
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.
This is a developing story, and further information will be added as it becomes available.