Richard Teng, CEO of global cryptocurrency exchange Binance, has reportedly denied allegations that the company played a role in selecting a stablecoin issued by a crypto company backed by the Trump family as part of a multi-billion dollar deal.
According to a CNBC report on Tuesday, Teng said Binance “was not involved” in the decision to use USD1, the stablecoin launched by the Trump family’s World Liberty Financial business, for a $2 billion deal with an Abu Dhabi-based company, MGX.
The Binance CEO spoke amid scrutiny from many lawmakers after US President Donald Trump granted a pardon to former CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, sparking accusations of corruption and “pay-for-play” policies.
“[T]the use of USD1 [for the] “The transaction between MGX as a strategic investor in Binance, was decided by MGX… We did not participate in that decision,” Teng said, according to CNBC.
MGX’s initial $2 billion investment in Binance was announced in March. However, the deal came under additional scrutiny after Eric Trump, one of the president’s sons and co-founder of World Liberty Financial, said the financing deal would be settled using $1, allowing the Trump family company to profit from the transaction.
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After granting a presidential pardon to CZ on October 23, Trump said in a 60 Minutes interview that he did not know who the former Binance CEO was. The president suggested that the Justice Department under the Biden administration unfairly accused Zhao, although the former CEO pleaded guilty as part of a $4.3 billion settlement with U.S. authorities over the stock exchange’s anti-money laundering program.
Deeper ties between Binance and the Trump family?
Despite Teng’s claims, a Bloomberg report in July suggested that Binance was responsible for developing some of the code behind USD1, citing three anonymous people familiar with the matter. In response to the report, Zhao hinted that he might file a defamation lawsuit against the media outlet.
US lawmakers have also been questioning the US president and his family’s alleged involvement with Binance.
In October, Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy said that Binance.US, a separate legal entity from the exchange, was “promoting Trump’s cryptocurrencies,” a week after Trump “pardoned the owner of Binance.”
Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren has made similar allegations about CZ’s relationship with the president, prompting another threat of a lawsuit over the allegations.
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