Binance.US Defends USD1

The U.S. cryptocurrency exchange Binance.US has denied allegations of political influence following its decision to list the USD1 stablecoin, issued by World Liberty Financial, a company linked to Donald Trump.

On Tuesday, Democratic Senator Chris Murphy suggested on social media that Binance.US’s move was a “thank you gesture” for Trump’s recent pardon of Binance founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ).
According to Murphy,

“A week after Trump pardoned the owner of Binance, the company starts promoting his cryptocurrency.”

In a statement released Wednesday, Binance.US emphasized that the decision to add USD1 was made well before the pardon and was part of its regular business operations, unrelated to politics. The exchange also noted that USD1 and the WLFI token are already listed on over 20 U.S. exchanges, including Coinbase, Robinhood, and Kraken.

“This was purely a business decision. It’s unfortunate that even routine corporate actions are now being turned into political attacks,”
Binance.US wrote on the X platform.

USD1 is a U.S. dollar–pegged stablecoin issued by World Liberty Financial. It currently ranks sixth globally among stablecoins, with a market capitalization of $2.97 billion.

Criticism of Trump and Zhao

Donald Trump’s ties to World Liberty Financial have long been a point of controversy among his political opponents. Critics point to potential conflicts of interest, especially given Trump’s vocal support for expanding the U.S. stablecoin sector.

Trump’s pardon of Changpeng Zhao has also drawn heavy criticism from Democrats. Congresswoman Maxine Waters described the move as the result of long-term lobbying efforts by Zhao and his alleged financial connections to World Liberty Financial.

“Trump is doing huge favors for crypto criminals who helped him get richer,”
Waters said in an official statement.

Changpeng Zhao, co-founder of Binance, pleaded guilty in 2023 to failures in anti–money laundering compliance. As part of a settlement with U.S. authorities, Binance paid over $4.3 billion in fines, while Zhao personally paid $50 million and served four months in prison before being released last year.

Following his pardon, Zhao publicly thanked Trump, vowing to “do everything possible to make America the global capital of cryptocurrency and advance web3 technology.”