Exclusive: Binance’s CZ Secretly Backs Trump Family Crypto Deals Amid Pardon Bid – Bloomberg Bombshell

Behind the velvet ropes of power and digital assets, Binance founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) is playing a high-stakes game. Bloomberg reveals his covert involvement in Trump-linked crypto ventures while angling for a presidential pardon—because nothing says 'decentralization' like old-school political horse-trading.

CZ's Double Game: Crypto Kingpin or Political Operative?

Sources whisper that CZ's fingerprints are all over undisclosed Trump family crypto projects. The twist? This all unfolds as he reportedly lobbies for clemency on past regulatory skirmishes. Talk about hedging your bets—Wall Street would be proud.

The Pardon Playbook

Insiders suggest CZ's team has quietly courted Trump allies, leveraging crypto's Wild West appeal to charm a administration that loves both disruption and dealmakers. Meanwhile, Binance’s BNB token keeps climbing—proof that in crypto, even controversy has a bullish ROI.

*Final thought: When billionaires and politicians dance, retail investors foot the band.*

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.

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