Binance Founder CZ Addresses Trump‑Related Controversy In Latest Statement
Binance founder and former CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) has pushed again in opposition to rising scrutiny surrounding his relationship with President Donald Trump, saying his ties to the president and his household have been extensively misunderstood following Trump’s determination to grant him a pardon final yr.
CZ Rejects Allegations Of Binance’s Political Links
Attention on Zhao intensified after President Trump issued a pardon in October 2025, a transfer that prompted renewed criticism from Democratic lawmakers and fueled questions on Binance’s alleged political and enterprise connections.
Addressing the controversy in a latest interview with CNBC, Zhao stated claims of a enterprise relationship with the Trump household are inaccurate. “There’s no enterprise relationship in anyway,” Zhao acknowledged. The former government added that the narrative surrounding the pardon and Binance’s alleged ties to Trump had been “misconstrued.”
Much of the scrutiny facilities on Binance’s connection to the Trump-linked decentralized finance (DeFi) enterprise World Liberty Financial (WLFI).
That connection traces again to a $2 billion funding made in March 2025 by MGX, a state‑owned agency based mostly in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. MGX invested in Binance utilizing USD1, a stablecoin created by World Liberty Financial.
Zhao emphasised that the cost technique was chosen by the investor, not Binance. “MGX is the investor. They select USD1,” he stated. “My request to them was they pay us in crypto. I don’t wish to cope with banks, actually.”
According to Zhao, the usage of the enterprise’s USD1 stablecoin has been wrongly interpreted as proof of a deeper relationship. “Many individuals misconstrued that,” he added.
WLFI Push Back On Political Influence Claims
In an announcement, WLFI spokesperson David Wachsman stated the corporate performed no position within the pardon course of. “As we’ve got acknowledged many occasions, WLFI is just not a political group and had zero position within the pardon course of,” Wachsman stated. “To indicate in any other case is harmful and false.”
Trump himself downplayed any private connection in a November interview with CBS’s 60 Minutes. “I do not know who he’s,” the president stated of Zhao. Trump added that he had been informed Zhao was “a sufferer, identical to I used to be and identical to many different individuals, of a vicious, horrible group of individuals within the Biden administration.”
Additional consideration has centered on Binance’s lobbying efforts in Washington. NBC News reported in the course of the week of the pardon that Binance had employed Checkmate Government Relations, a lobbying agency led by Charles McDowell, who’s a buddy of Donald Trump Jr.
According to disclosures, the agency was paid $450,000 to foyer the White House and the Treasury Department on issues together with “government aid” and digital asset‑associated financial services policy.
Zhao denied that any lobbying effort was related to his pardon. “There is loads of media saying that there’s some deal in place to get me the pardon,” he informed CNBC in Davos. “As far as I do know, that doesn’t exist in any respect.”
Binance’s former CEO additionally stated he has by no means spoken straight with President Trump. “The closest that I obtained to him was as we speak when he was doing the Board of Peace session,” Zhao stated. “I used to be within the viewers, about 30 to 40 toes away from him.”
At the time of writing, Binance Coin (BNB) was buying and selling at $893, having recorded a 4% drop over the earlier week. However, it is likely one of the few cryptocurrencies to have retained beneficial properties year-to-date, with a rise of 30% in that point.
Featured picture from OpenArt, chart from TradingView.com
