- Five Wall Street Journal journalists reported that Binance founder CZ is seeking a presidential pardon from Donald Trump, though CZ has denied these claims on social media.
- Reports suggest Binance is interested in having the Trump family or its entities invest, with the exchange allegedly offering to move operations to the US as part of negotiations.
- The news comes shortly after Binance secured a $2 billion equity investment from Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund MGX, described as the largest crypto-denominated equity investment in history.
Binance founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) has reportedly sought a presidential pardon from Donald Trump, according to a Wall Street Journal report published today. The claim comes despite CZ having already completed his four-month prison sentence for Bank Secrecy Act violations, suggesting the pardon could be preemptive in nature.
Five WSJ journalists published the report early Thursday, citing unnamed sources familiar with the matter. The reporters noted that a US president holds “unlimited” pardoning power under Article II, Section 2, Clause 1 of the US Constitution, with the ability to pardon “every offence known to the law,” even before legal proceedings commence, as established in the 1867 Supreme Court case Ex parte Garland.
In addition to the pardon request, the WSJ claims that Binance is pursuing investment from the Trump family or related entities such as World Liberty Financial. As part of these discussions, the cryptocurrency exchange has reportedly expressed willingness to relocate significant operations to the United States.
CZ has since posted on X (formerly Twitter) challenging the reporting. “[I have] had no discussions of a Binance US deal with … well, anyone,” he stated, while adding that “no felon would mind a pardon, especially being the only one in US history who was ever sentenced to prison for a single BSA charge.”
The timing of these reports is notable, coming just one day after Binance announced a historic $2 billion equity investment from Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund MGX. CZ boasted on social media that this represented the largest crypto-denominated equity investment in history.
The potential relocation of Binance operations to the US would align with Trump’s longstanding policy of encouraging foreign companies to establish a presence in America. His administration has consistently used tariffs and trade policies to incentivize onshoring of businesses.
Interestingly, the US government currently holds approximately $33 million worth of Binance Chain (BNB) coins. A recent Executive Order signed by Trump may incorporate these assets into the newly-formed US Digital Asset Bitcoin-reserveand-united-states-digital-asset-stockpile/”>Stockpile.
As of publication time, other Binance leaders including Yi He and Richard Teng have not publicly responded to the WSJ’s claims regarding the pardon request or potential Trump family investment.
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