Bloomberg claims cryptocurrency companies and projects linked to the Trump family may have received “behind-the-scenes” support from Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, months before its founder, Changpeng Zhao, known as “CZ,” publicly applied for a presidential pardon.
According to a Bloomberg exclusive on Friday, the arrangement had not been previously disclosed. However, Binance allegedly wrote the foundational smart contract for USD1, a stablecoin issued by Trump-affiliated World Liberty Financial Inc.
Three individuals familiar with the matter told Bloomberg that Binance was responsible for the initial code that enabled the issuance of USD1. The foundation allowed USD1 to be used in a $2 billion investment in Binance by MGX, a firm founded by the United Arab Emirates.
Binance holds massive USD1 supply
Blockchain data inspected by Bloomberg revealed that over $2 billion worth of USD1, about 90% of the token’s total supply, is held in Binance wallets. The interest-bearing assets backing that amount could yield tens of millions annually.
Based on the token’s prospectus, the Trump family could be entitled to roughly $30 million yearly from the reserves’ interest income.
A Binance spokesperson said USD1 “followed the exchange’s standard listing process.” She added that Zhao’s pardon application “is a personal one,” reminding the public that he is no longer CEO.
During an interview on the Farokh Radio podcast, Zhao admitted that he had made a pardon request: “If they’re writing this article, I might as well just officially apply.”
The ex-CEO pleaded guilty in 2023 to anti-money-laundering charges and was sentenced to a brief period in a halfway house in Long Beach, California. Binance paid over $4 billion in penalties after US authorities found the platform had been enabling illicit financial flows from “terrorists, cybercriminals and child abusers.”
A spokeswoman for World Liberty, responding to detailed inquiries, completely refuted the claims: “Your assertions are factually deficient and designed to further a political agenda,” they surmised.
Binance, USD1, and Presidential ties: Foul play?
If the allegations are anything to go by, President Donald Trump is both a financial beneficiary and the only person capable of granting Zhao’s pardon.
“We have never had this since the Civil War: a president whose personal financial interests conflicted with his official duties,” said Richard Painter, former chief ethics counsel under President George W. Bush. “We haven’t had anything even close to this significant.”
The Trump administration insists that the president holds no conflicts of interest because his business holdings are placed in a trust overseen by his eldest son, Donald Trump Jr. An ethics agreement released before Trump took office in January says the president receives only “general business updates” and “not an accounting of the performance of any specific business or asset.”
Bloomberg estimates that crypto-related projects tied to Trump have added at least $620 million to his fortune in just a few months.
Two Bloomberg sources said Zhao met with World Liberty co-founder Steve Witkoff at a Bitcoin conference in Abu Dhabi in December 2024, shortly after Trump’s election win and Zhao’s release from supervised custody.
Yet, someone close to Witkoff denied that the meeting occurred, saying he “doesn’t remember it.”
Witkoff is a longtime Trump ally and real estate developer, currently serving as the special envoy to the Middle East under Trump 2.0.
David Warrington, counsel to the White House, said Witkoff is “working with ethics officials and counsel, including taking all the legal steps necessary to divest,” and will transfer his interest in World Liberty to his adult sons.
By mid-March, Bloomberg reported that Binance and World Liberty were in talks to develop a new stablecoin. Around the same time, the Wall Street Journal published an article stating that Zhao was asking the Trump administration for a pardon.
Just two weeks later, World Liberty announced plans for a new stablecoin to be issued on Binance’s BNB Smart Chain.