WSJ: Binance Executives Meet with US Treasury Officials to Discuss Easing US Government Regulations on the Company

On May 19, The Wall Street Journal reported that US President Trump and his family's enthusiasm for cryptocurrencies has made the industry one of the biggest winners in his second term. Given Trump's massive business interests, critics have raised ethical concerns.

Representatives of the Trump family have discussed investing in Binance.US. This would see the US President doing business with a company that has acknowledged violating anti-money laundering laws. Binance executives also met with US Treasury officials to discuss easing government regulations on the company. Binance founder and major shareholder CZ recently stated that his lawyer has formally applied for a pardon. Last year, he served four months in prison for related charges.

The Trump family also owns a company called World Liberty Financial, which was established last September. Trump's sons, Donald Jr., Eric, and Barron, are all involved in the venture, and the Trump family controls about 60% of the company's equity. Justin Sun invested $75 million in the project, further propelling this momentum. In February of this year, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) requested a court to suspend a lawsuit accusing Justin Sun and his company of fraud.

Trump's team is trying to push Congress to pass two cryptocurrency bills in the coming months: one to establish the first regulations for stablecoins, and another to define which cryptocurrency products are regulated by the SEC as securities and which are regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) as commodities. The Senate is expected to vote on its version of the stablecoin bill soon. Some Democrats oppose the bill citing Trump's potential conflict of interest and stablecoin activities.