Today in crypto, Binance allegedly reached out to US President Donald Trump’s family in 2024, proposing a business deal to help relaunch Binance.US operations — a claim later denied by former Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao in an X post. Meanwhile, an Argentine lawyer has requested a global arrest warrant for the creator of the Libra (LIBRA) token.
Changpeng Zhao denies reports of a Binance.US deal, defends Trump
Former Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao has denied many of the claims in a Wall Street Journal report suggesting that he has been actively seeking a federal pardon from US President Donald Trump.
In a March 13 X post following the release of the report, Zhao said he had no discussions regarding a business deal between the Trump family and Binance.US. He further denied claims that he wanted a presidential pardon from Trump, which could potentially allow him to assume an operational or management role at Binance.
“No felon would mind a pardon, especially being the only one in US history who was ever sentenced to prison for a single BSA [Bank Secrecy Act] charge,” said CZ. “Feels like the article is motivated as an attack on the President and crypto, and the residual forces of the ‘war on crypto’ from the last administration are still at work.”
CZ’s statement on a March 13 Wall Street Journal report. Source: Changpeng Zhao
Trump family held talks with Binance for stake in crypto exchange — Report
Representatives of US President Donald Trump’s family have reportedly held talks with Binance about potentially acquiring a stake in the crypto exchange.
Binance reached out to Trump’s family representatives in 2024, offering to strike a business deal as part of a plan to resume Binance.US operations in the country, The Wall Street Journal reported on March 13.
Citing sources familiar with the matter, the report mentioned that Binance’s billionaire founder Changpeng Zhao — who served four months in prison in the US — has been pushing for the Trump administration to grant him a pardon.
“It is unclear what form the Trump family stake would take if the deal comes together or whether it would be contingent on a pardon,” the report said.
According to WSJ, a potential opportunity could be a scenario where Trump takes the stake in Binance or proceeds with the deal through World Liberty Financial, a Trump-backed crypto venture launched in September.
Minutes before the WSJ article was published at 1:00 pm UTC, Trump took to Truth Social to slam the publication for allegedly reporting wrong information.
“The Globalist Wall Street Journal has no idea what they are doing or saying. They are owned by the polluted thinking of the European Union, which was formed for the primary purpose of ‘screwing’ the United States of America,” the president wrote.
Source: Donald Trump
Argentine lawyer wants Interpol red notice on LIBRA creator: Report
Argentine lawyer Gregorio Dalbon has asked to have Interpol file a global arrest warrant for Hayden Davis, the co-creator of the LIBRA token that caused a political scandal in the country.
Local media reported that Dalbon lodged the request to prosecutor Eduardo Taiano, who is probing President Javier Milei’s involvement with the token.
Dalbon claimed there was a risk if Davis remained free as he could have access to vast amounts of money, allowing him to flee the US or go into hiding and alleged “his central role” in Libra “increases the likelihood that he will take steps to evade justice.”
Hayden Davis (left) poses with Argentine President Javier Milei. Source: Javier Milei
He asked for Davis’ arrest and for “an Interpol red notice [to] be issued in order to locate and arrest him, with a view to his extradition.”
Davis helped make the LIBRA token that Milei shared on social media last month, which rocketed it to a peak value of over $4 billion. The token’s creators held most of the supply and sold, crashing its price and leading to accusations that it was a pump-and-dump scheme.
