Binance founder and former CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) is fighting back against growing scrutiny over his ties to former President Donald Trump, insisting the relationship has been widely misunderstood since Trump granted him a pardon in October 2025. CZ pushed back in a recent CNBC interview, saying allegations of a business relationship between Binance and the Trump family are false. “There’s no business relationship whatsoever,” he said, calling narratives linking the pardon to Binance “misconstrued.” Why the scrutiny resurfaced The spotlight returned to Zhao after the pardon, prompting criticism from Democratic lawmakers and fresh questions about Binance’s political and commercial links. Much of the debate centers on a Trump-associated decentralized finance project, World Liberty Financial (WLFI), and a chain of transactions tied to a large 2025 investment. The money trail In March 2025, Abu Dhabi state-owned firm MGX invested $2 billion in Binance. MGX paid using USD1, a stablecoin issued by WLFI. Zhao said the choice of USD1 was MGX’s decision: “MGX is the investor. They choose USD1. My request to them was they pay us in crypto. I don’t want to deal with banks, really.” He argued that the use of USD1 has been incorrectly read as proof of a deeper relationship with WLFI or the Trump family. WLFI denies political influence WLFI pushed back on any suggestion it influenced the pardon. Spokesperson David Wachsman said the firm “is not a political organization and had zero role in the pardon process,” calling implications to the contrary “dangerous and false.” Trump’s comments and lobbying links Trump himself downplayed personal ties to Zhao in a November interview on 60 Minutes, saying, “I have no idea who he is,” and framing Zhao as a victim of the previous administration. Meanwhile, reporting during the week of the pardon highlighted Binance’s Washington lobbying: disclosures show Binance paid Checkmate Government Relations—led by Charles McDowell, a friend of Donald Trump Jr.—$450,000 to lobby the White House and Treasury on issues including “executive relief” and digital asset financial services policy. Zhao denied any link between lobbying activities and his pardon, telling CNBC in Davos that media claims of a deal to secure the pardon were untrue. He also said he has never spoken directly with Trump, noting the closest he’s come was being in the audience “about 30 to 40 feet away from him” at an event. Market context Despite the controversy, Binance Coin (BNB) has largely held its gains this year. At the time of writing BNB was trading around $893, down about 4% over the past week but up roughly 30% year-to-date. Bottom line CZ and Binance reject claims of political collusion tied to the pardon, framing the USD1 payment and lobbying disclosures as misunderstood or unrelated. But the episode has renewed scrutiny of crypto’s intersection with political influence and the opaque flows between state-backed investors, DeFi projects, and major exchanges. Sources: CNBC, NBC News, WLFI statement, TradingView. Featured image from OpenArt. Read more AI-generated news on: undefined/news

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