Trumps Reportedly Looking To Finance Binance

The Trump family is reportedly negotiating a stake in the US arm of Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, while former CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, who recently spent four months in prison for allowing terror groups to launder money on the platform, lobbies the White House for a presidential pardon, per the Wall Street Journal.

How would this work? According to the WSJ, the stake would either go directly to the Trump family or be routed through World Liberty Financial, a crypto venture run by the Trumps. The president is exempt from conflict-of-interest rules that apply to other government officials, the WSJ noted.

As for the pardon, it could be the first hurdle Binance will face in resuming full operations in the US (Binance US has fewer features and more regulations than Binance). Zhao, who says he has not asked for a pardon, is Binance’s largest shareholder. The EU bars companies with shareholders convicted of money laundering from applying for a crypto regulatory license, something that could change with a few strokes of Trump’s pen.

Big picture: The Trump administration has created a strategic crypto reserve and is currently rewriting regulations that could benefit Binance and its peers, per Bloomberg. The SEC, meanwhile, has mostly put crypto enforcement—including a lawsuit against Binance and Zhao—on hold.—DL