Key Notes
- WSJ previously alleged that Binance’s Changpeng Zhao was negotiating a deal with Trump’s family for a pardon in exchange for a stake sale.
- Teng denied this but praised President Trump for his pro-crypto initiatives, including the new crypto reserve and active participation.
- President Trump has invested $350 million in crypto projects through his DeFi initiative, World Liberty Financial
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Binance CEO Richard Teng repeated that the reports of an ongoing deal between Binance.US and the Donald Trump family are not true. Teng’s comments came while speaking at a panel at Blockworks’ 2025 Digital Asset Summit in New York on March 18.
Last week, a WSJ report suggested that Binance founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) was in talks with the Trump family to acquire some stake in Binance.US, with plans of kickstarting operations once again. However, Zhao completely denied this report stating that the media publication was maligning the US President’s image with such allegations.
Now, Binance CEO Richard Teng has reiterated Zhao’s stand stating that there were no deals in the works at the moment. He said:
“I believe both World Liberty Financial as well as CZ himself have tweeted and denied the reforms, right? So that there’s really nothing else to add.”
Teng emphasized that Binance.US operates independently, both legally and operationally, from its global counterpart. “US and dotcom are quite different animals, right? They have different set of shareholders, they have different boards of directors and different CEOs running the show,” he said.
Binance CEO Praises Donald Trump
Binance CEO Richard Teng has also praised US President Donald Trump for his pro-crypto policies, stating that it would be beneficial for the global crypto community, despite they being not operational in the United States. Teng said:
“Last year was a landmark year in that institutions are finally coming on board. With President Trump coming out with both [a] strategic crypto reserve or asset stockpile, it will force governments around the world […] to look at this space quite seriously.”
Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, trails behind Coinbase in the U.S. market through its subsidiary Binance.US. According to sources cited by The Wall Street Journal, CZ, who previously served a four-month prison sentence in the U.S., has reportedly been lobbying the Trump administration for a pardon.
US President Donald Trump is an active participant in the crypto space through the launch of his Official Trump (TRUMP) meme coin as well as his DeFi project – World Liberty Financial. The project has invested $350 million in crypto, but the TRUMP coin lost over $12 billion in value at the start of March 2025.
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Bhushan is a FinTech enthusiast and holds a good flair in understanding financial markets. His interest in economics and finance draw his attention towards the new emerging Blockchain Technology and Cryptocurrency markets. He is continuously in a learning process and keeps himself motivated by sharing his acquired knowledge. In free time he reads thriller fictions novels and sometimes explore his culinary skills.
Source: https://www.coinspeaker.com/binance-ceo-denies-deal-with-trump/