In the spring of 2025, cryptocurrency exchange Binance provided $2 billion in technological and financial support to World Liberty Financial (WLF), a cryptocurrency company owned by the family of US President Donald Trump, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported.
This support preceded Trump's pardon last week of Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, who was convicted in 2023 of violating anti-money laundering regulations. According to the newspaper, Binance deployed a team of engineers to create the technology for the WLF (USD1) stablecoin, and then asked a UAE state investor to use the stablecoin to buy a $2 billion stake in Binance. The deal boosted WLF's market cap from $127 million to more than $2.1 billion.
The pardon is the "most egregious example" of Trump using his office to favor someone at the center of deals that have enriched his family. WLF officials said the company "never aided, abetted, or influenced" the decision to pardon Zhao, but it supports it. The White House stated that “neither the president nor his family has ever been, nor will be, involved in any conflict of interest situation“.
In March 2025, the WSJ reported that representatives of the Trump family had discussed with Binance management a stake in the US division of the crypto exchange in exchange for Zhao's pardon.
In November 2023, US authorities ordered Binance to pay $4.3 billion for violating the Bank Secrecy Act, money laundering, improper registration, and evading sanctions. Zhao also pleaded guilty to failing to implement an effective anti-money laundering program. In the spring of 2024, he was sentenced to four months in prison in the US and was released from custody in September 2024 after serving his sentence.