Binance.US denies political motive in listing Trump-linked USD1 stablecoin
Quick Take
- Binance.US responded to criticism from Sen. Chris Murphy, who alleged its USD1 listing was a form of payback following Trump’s pardon of Binance founder Changpeng Zhao.
- The exchange said the USD1 listing had been approved through its “ordinary course of business.”
Binance.US pushed back against a U.S. senator's claims of its political favoritism on Wednesday, defending its recent decision to list USD1, a stablecoin issued by the Trump-linked World Liberty Financial.
On Tuesday, Democratic Senator Chris Murphy alleged in a social media post that Binance's USD1 listing was a form of payback following Trump's pardon of Binance founder Changpeng Zhao last week.
"One week after Trump pardoned Binance's owner (for a stunning array of crimes related to terrorist and sex predator financing), Binance starts promoting Trump crypto," Murphy wrote on X, referencing an earlier Binance announcement about listing USD1.
In response, Binance.US said Wednesday on X that USD1 and WLFI are listed on over 20 exchanges in the U.S., including Coinbase, Robinhood and Kraken, and that both assets had been approved by its listing committee some time ago through its "ordinary course of business."
"To be clear, this was a business decision on the part of [Binance.US] and nothing more," the exchange said. "It's unfortunate that even routine business decisions are now unfairly politicized by our elected officials."
USD1 is a stablecoin pegged to the U.S. dollars and issued by World Liberty Financial. It is currently the sixth-largest stablecoin globally and has a market capitalization of $2.97 billion.
Under scrutiny
Political opponents have long condemned U.S. President Donald Trump and his family's involvement in World Liberty Financial, citing conflicts of interest as Trump actively promoted the growth of the USD stablecoin sector.
Trump's pardon of Zhao last week was also heavily criticized, with Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters calling it a result of Zhao's months of lobbying to Trump and his family while "funneling billions" into World Liberty Financial.
"Trump is doing massive favors for crypto criminals who have helped line his pockets," Waters said in an official statement.
The Binance co-founder pled guilty in 2023 to failing to implement an effective anti-money laundering program, after reaching a settlement with the U.S. government where Binance itself pleaded guilty to criminal charges and agreed to pay over $4.3 billion in penalties. Zhao, who personally paid a $50 million fine, was sentenced to four months of incarceration, and was released from prison last year.
Zhao has expressed gratitude to Trump for the pardon. "Will do everything we can to help make America the Capital of Crypto and advance web3 worldwide," Zhao said in a post on X last week.
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