Binance CEO Richard Teng denied studies that Binance.US was in deal talks with entities affiliated with US President Donald Trump throughout a March 18 panel at Blockworks’ 2025 Digital Asset Summit in New York.
Teng’s assertion reiterated the place taken by Binance’s founder, Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, and Trump, each of whom denied the story final week.
On March 13, The Wall Road Journal reported that Binance.US, an independently-operated US cryptocurrency alternate, was discussing promoting an fairness curiosity to Trump-affiliated enterprise entities, together with a attainable cope with World Liberty Monetary, the Trump household’s decentralized finance (DeFi) challenge.
“I consider each World Liberty Monetary in addition to CZ himself have tweeted and denied the reforms, proper? In order that there’s actually nothing else so as to add,” Teng stated through the summit, which was attended by Cointelegraph.
Richard Teng talking at Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit in New York. Supply: Cointelegraph
Associated: Donald Trump’s memecoin generated $350M for creators: Report
Teng said that Binance.US is legally and operationally distinct from its bigger namesake.
“US and dotcom are fairly totally different animals, proper? They’ve totally different set of shareholders, they’ve totally different board of administrators and totally different CEO working the present,” he stated.
Nonetheless, Teng did reward Trump, saying that Binance has benefited from the president’s “pro-crypto” insurance policies regardless of indirectly working within the US.
“Final 12 months was a landmark 12 months in that establishments are lastly approaching board,” Teng stated.
“With President Trump popping out with each [a] strategic crypto reserve or asset stockpile, it should pressure governments all over the world […] to have a look at this house fairly critically.”
In a departure from his predecessor, Joe Biden, Trump has stated he needs to make America the “world’s crypto capital” and has appointed pro-industry management to key regulatory posts.
Supply: CZ
Potential conflicts of curiosity
Citing sources aware of the matter, The Wall Road Journal report talked about that CZ — who served four months in prison in the US — has been pushing for the Trump administration to grant him a pardon.
“It’s unclear what type the Trump household stake would take if the deal comes collectively or whether or not it will be contingent on a pardon,” the report stated.
Binance is the world’s largest cryptocurrency alternate, however Binance.US lags Coinbase within the US market.
CZ denied the report in an X post printed the identical day. Trump additionally denied the report in a submit on Fact Social, his social media platform.
“The Globalist Wall Road Journal has no thought what they’re doing or saying. They’re owned by the polluted considering of the European Union, which was fashioned for the first goal of ‘screwing’ the US of America,” the president wrote.
Trump’s Jan. 18 memecoin launch and his ties to crypto agency World Liberty Monetary have upturned norms for US presidents and raised concerns about potential conflicts of interest, consultants have stated.
Journal: Trump’s crypto ventures raise conflict of interest, insider trading questions
