Donald and Melania Trump, flanked by members of their family
Trump family representatives have been in discussions to take a financial stake in the U.S. arm of crypto exchange Binance, whose founder served four months in prison for money laundering.
Binance, along with former CEO Changpeng Zhao, pleaded guilty to charges of money laundering, unlicensed money transmitting, and sanctions violations in 2023.
A deal with the Trump family would allow the previously banned company to return to the United States.
Billionaire New York real estate developer and Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff has reportedly been involved in the talks with Binance.
This is just the latest example of President Donald Trump’s willingness to align himself with the shady—and often illegal—crypto world. Trump’s billionaires club is filled with tech bros who have both made and been floated by considerable amounts of money in the crypto space.
Trump has seen how much more lucrative a grift of the barely policed crypto world is in comparison to previous ventures, like selling shiny gold sneakers.
Trump launched his own meme coin $TRUMP shortly after inauguration in a clear money grab, pulling in millions while exploiting hundreds of thousands of suckers. But more importantly it was a naked pay-to-play scam, allowing foreign agents and fellow grifters to curry favor with the president—like Tron founder Justin Sun, who was facing a civil fraud case started under the Biden administration.
After Sun “invested” tens of millions into Trump’s meme coin, he was rewarded by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission cutting a deal and dropping the case.
As the Trump family continues talks with Binance, the potential investment—and whether or not it would include one of Trump’s patented pardons—remains to be seen.
Reprinted with permission from Daily Kos
Start your day with National Memo Newsletter
Know first.
The opinions that matter. Delivered to your inbox every morning
