In Brief

President Trump’s family has been weighing an investment in Binance.US, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal. The investment would come just a couple of years after Binance’s U.S. arm pleaded guilty to violating anti-money laundering regulation.

As part of that guilty plea, Binance’s founder Changpeng Zhao, better known as CZ, paid a $4.3 billion fine and spent four months in prison back in 2023. He also agreed to step down as CEO — but remains the main shareholder in the cryptocurrency exchange.

Zhao is currently the 24th richest person in the world, according to Forbes’ ranking. The WSJ claims he’s been pushing for a pardon from the Trump administration.

Zhao’s conviction has made it difficult for Binance to find commercial partners in the U.S. or apply for crypto licenses in Europe. “I have had no discussions of a Binance U.S. deal with… well, anyone,” Zhao said in a post on X refuting the WSJ’s reporting.

But if discussions between Binance and representatives of the Trump family are indeed taking place, it seems to boil down to a simple question: what’s the value of a presidential pardon?

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