Trump Family in Talks to Purchase Stake in Binance.US: WSJ

The discussions began after Binance approached Trump allies last year to negotiate a deal for the exchange's return to the U.S., according to the report.

Key Points to Know:

• A representative of the Trump family discussed acquiring a stake in Binance's U.S. arm.
• The stake could have been purchased through the Trump-family backed project, World Liberty Financial, according to the Wall Street Journal.
• Steve Witkoff, a friend of the U.S. president, was involved in the talks.

According to a Wall Street Journal report on Thursday, a representative of the Trump family discussed acquiring a stake in Binance's U.S. arm.

The stake could have been purchased through the Trump-family backed crypto project, World Liberty Financial, the report said, citing sources familiar with the matter.

Steve Witkoff, a friend of the U.S. president, was involved in the deal discussions, the report added. Witkoff and his family founded World Liberty Financial two months before Trump was elected President in November.

The talks began last year after Binance approached Trump's allies, proposing a deal to bring the crypto exchange back to the U.S.

In response to the news, BNB, the native cryptocurrency of the Binance-linked BNB Chain, surged by as much as 5%, surpassing $600 for the first time in a week.

A representative for Binance.US declined to comment on the report.

Recently, the exchange had its U.S. dollar fiat services reinstated after losing the ability to deposit and withdraw USD under the Biden Administration.

Former Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Gary Gensler had previously referred to Binance.US as "a cauldron of fraud" and made efforts to crack down on the exchange. This led to the loss of thousands of customers and forced the company to lay off 70% of its workforce after losing billions of dollars.

Binance also secured institutional investment on Wednesday, with Abu Dhabi-based investment firm MGX investing $2 billion in the exchange.