Changpeng Zhao, the former CEO of Binance, is accused of supporting cryptocurrency projects related to the Trump family while secretly seeking a presidential pardon, according to a Bloomberg News report on July 11.
The report claims that Binance wrote the underlying smart contract code for USD1, a stablecoin issued by World Liberty Financial, a company affiliated with President Donald Trump.
Three people who understand this issue told Bloomberg that Binance's involvement helped utilize $1 in the $2 billion investment in Binance made by UAE-based MGX.
Blockchain data reviewed by Bloomberg shows that about 90% of the total $2 billion supply of USD1 is held in Binance wallets. The token's prospectus indicates that the Trump family could receive about $30 million annually from interest earned on reserves backing this stablecoin.
A spokesperson for Binance told Bloomberg that the listing of USD1 followed their 'standard procedure', emphasizing that Zhao's pardon request was 'personal' and unrelated to the company's operations.
Zhao, who pleaded guilty to violating anti-money laundering laws in 2023 and had to sit in a jail in California, confirmed his pardon request in an interview on the Farokh Radio podcast.
World Liberty denied these allegations, calling them 'factually baseless and designed to advance a political agenda.' Zhao also denied the accusations made in previous reports by the Wall Street Journal.
Ethics experts have raised concerns about potential conflicts of interest. Richard Painter, former chief ethics counsel under President George W. Bush, stated, 'We have never seen this since the Civil War: a president with personal financial interests conflicting with his official duties.'
The Trump administration asserts that the president has no conflicts, citing a trust structure overseen by Donald Trump Jr. An ethics agreement announced before Trump took office stated he only received general updates about the business.
Bloomberg reported that cryptocurrency initiatives related to Trump have helped his assets increase by at least $620 million in recent months. Two sources said Zhao met Steve Witkoff, co-founder of World Liberty and also an ally of Trump, at a Bitcoin conference in Abu Dhabi in December 2024, although a person close to Witkoff denied this meeting.
According to White House advisor David Warrington, Witkoff, now Trump's special envoy to the Middle East, plans to transfer his interests in World Liberty Financial to his adult sons.
By mid-March, Binance and World Liberty were reportedly discussing a new stablecoin, and a few weeks later, World Liberty announced plans to issue a token on the BNB Smart Chain. Around the same time, the Wall Street Journal reported that CZ was seeking a pardon from Trump.