Binance Chief Executive Officer Richard Teng refuted claims that Binance.US was engaged in negotiations with organizations connected to US President Donald Trump during a panel discussion on March 18 at Blockworks’ 2025 Digital Asset Summit in New York.
Teng’s remarks reaffirmed the stance expressed by Binance’s founder, Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, and Trump, both of whom repudiated the allegations last week.
On March 13, The Wall Street Journal reported that Binance.US, a US cryptocurrency exchange operating independently, was in discussions regarding the sale of an equity stake to Trump-affiliated business entities, which included a potential arrangement with World Liberty Financial, the Trump family’s decentralized finance (DeFi) initiative.
“I believe both World Liberty Financial and CZ himself have tweeted and refuted the claims, right? So there’s really nothing more to elaborate,” Teng stated during the summit, which Cointelegraph covered.
Richard Teng addressing the audience at Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit in New York. Source: Cointelegraph
Related: Donald Trump’s memecoin generated $350M for creators: Report
Teng affirmed that Binance.US is legally and operationally separate from its larger counterpart.
“The US and dotcom are significantly different entities, right? They have distinct sets of shareholders, separate boards of directors, and different CEOs overseeing operations,” he remarked.
Nonetheless, Teng acknowledged Trump’s influence, asserting that Binance has gained from the president’s “pro-crypto” policies even though it does not operate directly in the US.
“Last year marked a significant milestone as institutions are finally engaging,” Teng noted.
“With President Trump proposing both [a] strategic crypto reserve or asset accumulation, it will compel governments globally […] to seriously consider this sector.”
In contrast to his predecessor, Joe Biden, Trump has expressed a desire to establish America as the “world’s crypto capital” and has appointed industry-friendly leaders to crucial regulatory positions.
Source: CZ
Possible conflicts of interest
Citing sources knowledgeable about the situation, The Wall Street Journal report indicated that CZ — who served four months in jail in the US — has been advocating for the Trump administration to grant him a pardon.
“It remains uncertain what form the Trump family’s involvement would assume if the agreement materializes or whether it would hinge on a pardon,” the report added.
Binance is recognized as the largest cryptocurrency exchange globally; however, Binance.US trails behind Coinbase in the US marketplace.
CZ dismissed the report in an X post issued on the same day. Trump also rejected the claims in a post on Truth Social, his social media platform.
“The Globalist Wall Street Journal has no comprehension of what they are doing or stating. They are under the influence of the detrimental ideologies of the European Union, which was established primarily to ‘screw’ the United States of America,” the president remarked.
Trump’s launch of a memecoin on January 18 and his associations with the crypto firm World Liberty Financial have disrupted norms for US presidents and raised alarms regarding potential conflicts of interest, according to experts.
Magazine: Trump’s crypto endeavors provoke conflict of interest and insider trading inquiries
