Binance founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao mentioned his business relationship with President Donald Trump‘s household has been “misconstrued” within the wake of his pardon.
“There is no business relationships in anyway,” Zhao informed CNBC’s Andrew Ross Sorkin on Thursday in an interview on the World Financial Discussion board in Davos, Switzerland.
The previous Binance CEO served 4 months in jail after pleading responsible in 2023 to fees he enabled cash laundering throughout his time main the corporate. Zhao was launched in September 2024.
Trump’s pardon in October 2025 drew consideration to Binance’s ties to World Liberty Financial, a crypto firm run by the president’s household.
The connection stems from a $2 billion funding in March 2025 by state-owned agency MGX of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, into Binance. MGX paid utilizing USD1, a stablecoin created by World Liberty Monetary.
Zhao stepped down as Binance’s CEO in 2023 as a part of the plea deal and $4.3 billion settlement with the Department of Justice. He stays a significant shareholder.
“MGX is the investor. They select USD1,” Zhao informed CNBC. “My request to them was they pay us in crypto. I do not wish to deal with banks, actually.”
“Many individuals misconstrued that,” he added.
Zhao informed CNBC the corporate has since transformed that funding out of USD1 in parts over time.
“Stablecoin is only a forex for fee. Simply because I accepted that, it does not imply I invested within the issuer of that,” he mentioned.
The Wall Avenue Journal reported following the pardon that along with MGX’s funding utilizing USD1, Binance additionally helped construct the expertise behind the stablecoin, citing sources acquainted with the matter.
“Lots of people say that he wasn’t responsible of something,” Trump mentioned, when requested later why he issued the order. “And so I gave him a pardon on the request of loads of excellent folks.”
NBC Information reported the week of Trump’s pardon that Binance had lately employed lobbyist Charles McDowell’s agency, Checkmate Authorities Relations. McDowell is a buddy of Donald Trump Jr., the president’s son.
Checkmate disclosed that it was paid $450,000 for work that included lobbying the White Home and Treasury Division for “government reduction” and “monetary providers coverage points regarding digital property and cryptocurrency.”
“There’s loads of media saying that there’s some deal in place to get me the pardon,” Zhao informed CNBC at Davos. “So far as I do know, that doesn’t exist in any respect.”
CNBC has reached out to World Liberty Monetary for remark.
Zhao informed CNBC at Davos that he has nonetheless not spoken straight with Trump.
“The closest that I received to him was right this moment when he was doing the Board of Peace session,” Zhao mentioned. “I used to be within the viewers, about 30 to 40 toes away from him.”
In a CBS “60 Minutes” interview in November, Trump affirmed that he did not know Zhao.
“I do not know who he’s,” Trump mentioned. “I used to be informed that he was a sufferer, similar to I used to be and similar to many different folks, of a vicious, horrible group of individuals within the Biden administration.”
— CNBC’s Jacqueline Corba contributed to this story.
