Wall Street Journal: Binance and Trump's family business deal negotiations and amnesty cloud

Original title:Binance Seeks to Curb US Oversight While in Deal Talks With Trump's Crypto Company
Original author: Angus Berwick, Patricia Kowsmann, Rebecca Ballhaus, author of the Wall Street Journal
Compiled: Rhythm Deep

Editor's note: Binance executives recently met with the U.S. Treasury Department to seek to relax supervision of companies, including eliminating supervisors' supervision of anti-money laundering compliance, and negotiate cooperation with the Trump family's crypto-maker World Liberty Financial, to plan to list its dollar stablecoin. The move could bring huge profits to the Trump family, and Binance hopes to use Trump's presidential power to get rid of the legal dilemma and return to the U.S. market.

The following is the original content (to facilitate reading comprehension, the original content has been compiled):

April 11, 2025 at 9:00 pm (ET)

Executives of cryptocurrency exchange Binance met with U.S. Treasury officials in Washington last month to discuss relaxing government regulation of the company, while the company is also exploring business deals with Trump's family crypto businesses, according to people familiar with the matter.

Binance executives asked Treasury officials to remove U.S. supervisors’ oversight over the exchanges’ compliance with anti-money laundering laws, people familiar with the matter said. The move will be the first step for the company to return to the U.S. market, which pleaded guilty in 2023 for violating anti-money laundering laws.

According to other people familiar with the matter, Binance is also negotiating the listing of a new dollar-pegged cryptocurrency launched by World Liberty Financial, a cryptocurrency backed by the Trump family. Listing, known as stablecoins, could allow it to quickly enter huge markets and could bring billions of dollars in profits to the Trump family.

These transactions mark an increasingly close alliance between the Trump family and Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange. Binance has paid a record $4.3 billion fine for allowing terrorists, drug dealers and sanctioned entities to transfer billions of dollars through its exchanges. Binance had begun discussing the deal with Trump family representatives before the Treasury Department talks.

For world free finance, Binance's market influence may help it become a significant player in the crypto industry. Binance has over 250 million users and processes approximately $65 billion in transactions per day.

The more dollar stablecoins (USD1) are in circulation, the more profit the Trump family will make from the assets that support the value of the token. Tether, the largest stablecoin issuer, reported $13 billion in profit last year.

For Binance, Trump’s presidential power could help companies get out of legal woes. The 2023 agreement with U.S. authorities imposed strict restrictions on the once-free-operating exchange, requiring it to clear all U.S. customers, report all previous suspicious transactions, and cooperate with two independent regulators appointed by the Treasury and Justice Department to oversee for five and three years respectively.

According to a previous report by The Wall Street Journal, Binance is also seeking amnesty for its convicted founder CZ. CZ served four months in prison after pleading guilty last year on related charges, and the amnesty would make it easier for the company to return to the United States.

Former Binance CEO CZ left court sentence site last year
Image source: JASON REDMOND/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

The Wall Street Journal reported last month that the Trump family representative also discussed with Binance about taking stake in Binance.US, a US branch that Binance operates independently and is currently in trouble.

A Treasury official said Binance’s meeting was one of dozens of times the agency had with the crypto industry. A spokesperson for World Free Finance said the company's goal is to make the US dollar stablecoin (USD1) "used to millions of people around the world."

A CZ via Binance spokesman declined to comment. Last month, CZ said on the X platform that he had no business dealings with World Free Finance and had not discussed Binance U.S. deals with anyone. "No criminal would mind getting pardons," he added.

A Binance spokesman said: "It is exciting to see the amazing momentum of the new administration and the U.S. crypto movement under the leadership of Congress. We are eager to support any government seeking to balance innovation with user protection in digital asset regulation."

A White House spokesman said it would not disclose who is or is not considered for amnesty.

"End the replacement of supervision with law enforcement"

The Trump family’s alliance with Binance began with a crypto conference in Abu Dhabi last December, just weeks before the inauguration. In the backstage of "Whale" (VIP) only, attendees holding a $10,000 VIP pass can enter, and CZ interacts with Trump's son Eric and Trump's allies, the incoming Middle East envoy Steve Witkov. Witkov told the participants that he would promote cryptocurrency development in the new government.

Eric promoted the approaching golden age of digital currency under his father's leadership and promoted the World Free Finance, which was co-founded by the Trump family and Witkov and his son several months ago. The meeting also offered a 21% discount on tickets using the discount code "TRUMPPUMP21". A spokesperson for Eric and Trump Organization did not respond to a request for comment.

The co-founder of World Free Finance takes the stage, starting from the second left: Chase Herro, Zach Witko# and Zak Folkman. On-screen for Donald Trump Jr.
Image source: KENT NISHIMURA/BLOOMBERG NEWS

CZ was seeking amnesty at the time, and in his public speech he complained that the U.S. regulation of the crypto industry was too harsh. "You have to stop using law enforcement instead of supervision," he said.

Business negotiations on Binance’s U.S. equity and dollar stablecoin accelerated in the coming months after the meeting, people familiar with the matter said.

The Trump administration has quickly made progress in easing cryptocurrency regulations. In recent weeks, the Justice Department has suspended its corporate regulatory program and dissolved its cryptocurrency unit, which has helped promote the 2023 case against Binance. The Justice Department announced the move in a memorandum entitled “Ending Law Enforcement Replaces Supervision”.

Binance still needs to deal with the Treasury appointed supervisor, which is considered more burdensome, according to people familiar with the matter.

People familiar with the matter said that Binance executives had clashes with Treasury supervisors, the lesser extent of disagreements with Justice supervisors, mainly around supervisors’ access to the company, including the ability to interview employees and review documents.

In a meeting with the Treasury last month, Binance CEO Weicheng Deng and Chief Legal Officer Eleanor Hughes asked the Treasury to cancel regulation or shorten its deadline and narrow the scope, according to people familiar with the matter.

Binance executives are optimistic that the Trump administration will agree with their request. Exchange employees have been discussing adjusting their anti-money laundering controls, and some employees believe this is to relax inspections of high-risk customers, people familiar with the matter said.

A Binance spokesman said regulators have caused "inefficient and costly burdens." He added that Binance "is fine-tuning the rules but not relaxing controls."

A series of crypto criminals

Binance began contacting Trump's allies around the 2024 election, according to people familiar with the matter. The company has set up a special team to explore returning to the United States under the Trump administration and seeking amnesty for CZ (CZ).

Even before the December meeting, CZ had a connection with the World Free Finance Team. Witkov's son Zach once called CZ the "wise man" on X. Last October, World Free Finance hired CZ's close friend Rich Teo to help launch its stablecoin, and Teo asked the judge who tried the CZ case for leniency.

A spokesperson for World Free Finance said: "Almost every leading company in the digital asset industry has interacted with Binance." She added: "We are very grateful to CZ for its many contributions to the cryptocurrency industry, and perhaps even more for his philanthropy."

The Trump family’s acceptance of Binance reflects the dynamics within the White House. The crypto tycoons who helped U.S. government rivals transfer funds — Russian sanctions evading terrorists, Islamic terrorist groups, Mexican drug cartels, global fraud gangs — who have been tracking for business with the president and his members of the core circle.

Trump has pardoned a string of crypto criminals, including BitMEX exchange co-founder Arthur Hayes, who pleaded guilty for violating the same U.S. anti-money laundering law as CZ.

Justin Sun, founder of Tron blockchain network, is the largest external investor in free finance in the world and advises the company. According to blockchain research firm TRM Labs, more than half of illegal crypto activities — about $26 billion — occurred in Tron last year.

In February, after Sun invested $75 million in World Free Finance's token, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission asked the court to suspend fraud lawsuits against him.

According to people familiar with the matter, during the Biden administration, the Justice Department has been investigating Sun's suspected financial crimes. It is not clear whether the investigation is still underway.

People familiar with the matter said he agreed to provide evidence about Sun as part of the CZ plea agreement. This arrangement has not been reported before. The Justice Department declined to comment.

Sun's representative declined to comment on "founded allegations about legal matters" and said the claim that Tron facilitates criminal activities is wrong.

Last December, Sun also interacted with VIP backstage at the Abu Dhabi conference and distributed his recently purchased $6 million banana art mini version.