Binance.US pushed again in opposition to a U.S. senator’s claims of its political favoritism on Wednesday, defending its latest choice to record USD1, a stablecoin issued by the Trump-linked World Liberty Monetary.
On Tuesday, Democratic Senator Chris Murphy alleged in a social media put up that Binance’s USD1 listing was a type of payback following Trump’s pardon of Binance founder Changpeng Zhao final week.
“One week after Trump pardoned Binance’s proprietor (for a surprising array of crimes associated to terrorist and intercourse predator financing), Binance begins selling Trump crypto,” Murphy wrote on X, referencing an earlier Binance announcement about listing USD1.
In response, Binance.US mentioned Wednesday on X that USD1 and WLFI are listed on over 20 exchanges in the U.S., together with Coinbase, Robinhood and Kraken, and that each property had been accepted by its listing committee a while in the past by means of its “peculiar course of enterprise.”
“To be clear, this was a enterprise choice on the a part of [Binance.US] and nothing extra,” the trade mentioned. “It is unlucky that even routine enterprise choices at the moment are unfairly politicized by our elected officers.”
USD1 is a stablecoin pegged to the U.S. {dollars} and issued by World Liberty Monetary. It’s at present the sixth-largest stablecoin globally and has a market capitalization of $2.97 billion.
Underneath scrutiny
Political opponents have lengthy condemned U.S. President Donald Trump and his household’s involvement in World Liberty Monetary, citing conflicts of curiosity as Trump actively promoted the expansion of the USD stablecoin sector.
Trump’s pardon of Zhao final week was additionally closely criticized, with Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters calling it a results of Zhao’s months of lobbying to Trump and his household whereas “funneling billions” into World Liberty Monetary.
“Trump is doing huge favors for crypto criminals who’ve helped line his pockets,” Waters mentioned in an official assertion.
The Binance co-founder pled responsible in 2023 to failing to implement an efficient anti-money laundering program, after reaching a settlement with the U.S. authorities the place Binance itself pleaded responsible to prison costs and agreed to pay over $4.3 billion in penalties. Zhao, who personally paid a $50 million high-quality, was sentenced to 4 months of incarceration, and was launched from jail final yr.
Zhao has expressed gratitude to Trump for the pardon. “Will do all the pieces we will to assist make America the Capital of Crypto and advance web3 worldwide,” Zhao mentioned in a put up on X final week.
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