| Key Points: – World Liberty Financial, a Trump family-backed crypto project, reportedly discussed a potential partnership with Binance. – The Trump administration is revising regulations affecting Binance, while the SEC’s lawsuit against the exchange remains unresolved. |
The Trump family’s crypto venture, World Liberty Financial, reportedly engaged in discussions with Binance over a potential collaboration, including the development of a U.S. dollar-backed stablecoin.
According to Bloomberg, these talks involved Steve Witkoff, a co-founder of World Liberty and an envoy for former President Donald Trump in the Middle East. It remains unclear how far negotiations progressed or whether any agreement will materialize.
Trump’s World Liberty Financial Explores Partnership with Binance
Two sources familiar with the discussions stated that World Liberty Financial explored the possibility of Binance creating a stablecoin for them.
The Trump family, which began promoting the project in September, receives 75% of World Liberty Financial’s net revenue, as per its founding documents.
According to data on the project’s official website, World Liberty Financial has now sold a total of 24.97 billion WLFI tokens, accounting for about 99.3% out of the total 25 billion tokens allocated for the public sale.
Further reports from The Wall Street Journal suggest that Trump representatives also discussed acquiring a stake in Binance’s U.S. subsidiary, Binance.US.
However, Binance founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao publicly denied any such negotiations. In a post on X, Zhao refuted claims of Binance or himself engaging in any business dealings with World Liberty Financial, dismissing the Bloomberg report as speculative and lacking substantive evidence. He also emphasized that neither he nor Binance had purchased WLFI tokens.
Following CZ’s confirmation, the BNB price returned to trading at around $576, similar to before the Binance news was reported by The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg.
Regulatory Scrutiny and Legal Challenges Loom Over Binance
Zhao, who stepped down as Binance CEO in November 2023 after pleading guilty to anti-money laundering violations, remains the company’s controlling shareholder. His conviction led to Binance paying a $4.3 billion fine. In September, after completing a four-month sentence in a halfway house, Zhao attended the Bitcoin MENA 2024 conference in Abu Dhabi, where he reportedly met Witkoff.
The potential partnership between Trump’s crypto initiative and Binance raises questions about regulatory conflicts. The Trump administration is in the process of revising regulations that could significantly impact Binance and other cryptocurrency firms.
Under Trump’s leadership, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has largely paused crypto-related enforcement actions, including an ongoing lawsuit against Binance and Zhao.
Meanwhile, Binance recently secured a significant $2 billion investment from Abu Dhabi-based MGX, marking the largest institutional backing for the company. The deal, conducted entirely in stablecoins, grants MGX a sizeable minority stake in the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange.
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