Changpeng “CZ” Zhao has denied the idea that he had any business ties to President Donald Trump’s family, calling the claims a complete misunderstanding.
“There is no business relationship whatsoever,” CZ told CNBC at the World Economic Forum in Davos. He said people are reading too much into the post-2025 pardon events, particularly those surrounding the use of stablecoins related to Trump’s relatives.
The rumors began after President Trump’s pardon in October 2025, a year after CZ was released from prison. He served four months in prison after pleading guilty in 2023 to allowing money laundering at Binance while he was CEO.
Part of the plea agreement included resigning from the company and paying a $4.3 billion settlement to the Department of Justice. Although he has left his post, he remains one of the exchange’s major shareholders.
$2 billion stablecoin payment from Abu Dhabi sparks speculation
The turmoil began with a $2 billion investment that Binance received in March 2025 from Abu Dhabi’s state-owned investment company MGX.
MGX made the payments instead of transferring cash directly. $USD1a stablecoin created by World Liberty Financial, a cryptocurrency company started by the Trump family. That’s what started all the suspicions.
“MGX is an investor. They choose $USD1“My request to them was that they pay us in cryptocurrency,” CZ said. I don’t really want to do business with banks. “He said that people think it is wrong to accept $USD1 That meant he had business with the Trump family. “A lot of people misunderstand that.”
CZ explained that Binance does not hold stablecoins.
Instead, they converted it into other assets over time. “A stablecoin is simply a payment currency. Accepting it does not mean you have invested in its issuer.”
World Liberty Financial spokesman David Waxman denied any connection to the pardon. “WLFI is not a political organization and plays no role in the amnesty process. It is dangerous and false to suggest otherwise.”
Still, the Wall Street Journal later said that Binance also helped build the technology behind it. $USD1said, citing an anonymous source.
Asked why he granted the pardon, President Trump said, “A lot of people say he did nothing wrong. So I pardoned him at the request of a lot of very good people.”
Lobbyist payments and tokenized stocks are back in the headlines
At the same time, NBC News reported that Binance hired a lobbying firm called Checkmate Government Relations. The company is run by Charles McDowell, a friend of Donald Trump Jr.
The company announced it paid $450,000 to lobby both the White House and the Treasury Department promoting “administrative relief” and policy actions related to cryptocurrencies and financial services.
CZ denied any connection between lobbying and the pardon. “Many media outlets are saying that there is some kind of deal to grant me amnesty, but as far as I know, there is no such thing at all.”
He also said he had not yet spoken to President Trump. “The closest I was to him was today when he was conducting a peace committee session. I was in the audience about 30 to 40 feet from him.”
As this situation continues, Binance is bringing back tokenized stock trading, a feature that was discontinued in 2021. These stock tokens are blockchain-based representations of actual stocks in companies like Apple and Microsoft, allowing people to buy smaller pieces without owning the full stock.
A Binance spokesperson told The Information: “Binance is committed to bridging traditional finance and cryptocurrencies and expanding user choice, while maintaining the highest regulatory standards. Since last year, we have started supporting tokenized real-world assets and recently launched the first regulated TradFi perpetual contract settled in stablecoins.”
They further added, “As we continue to aggressively build our infrastructure, partner with traditional institutions, and develop innovative solutions for our users and industry, exploring the possibility of offering tokenized stocks is a natural next step in our mission to bring TradFi and cryptocurrencies closer together.”
