Donald Trump’s family held talks about buying a stake in the cryptocurrency exchange Binance, months after its founder was released from prison for allowing terrorists and criminals to launder money through the company.

Representatives of the Trump family have held discussions with Binance about investing in its US arm, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The deal could reportedly involve a pardon for Changpeng Zhao, Binance’s founder, who served a four-month prison sentence last year after pleading guilty to a money laundering charge.

The Trump family could acquire a stake in Binance’s US operation through World Liberty Financial, a cryptocurrency project supported by Donald Trump and his sons Eric and Don Jr, sources told Bloomberg, which also reported the discussions.

It would be the latest dive into cryptocurrency by the Trump family and would be likely to raise further questions about conflicts of interests.

Mr Trump has described himself as a “crypto president” , establishing a strategic reserve of seized Bitcoins and promoting a $Trump memecoin that at one point was worth tens of billions of dollars.

Mr Zhao said no discussions had taken place. “Binance have no business deals with [World Liberty Financial] or the people mentioned in [Bloomberg’s] article,” he wrote on X.

He had written earlier: “I have had no discussions of a Binance US deal with ... well, anyone.” Mr Zhao is no longer Binance’s chief executive, although he remains its biggest shareholder. The company did not respond to a request for comment.

Steve Witkoff, Mr Trump’s negotiator seeking to end the war in Ukraine, has reportedly been involved in the talks and met Mr Zhao after he left prison. Mr Witkoff’s son Zach is World Liberty Financial’s co-founder.

Binance, the world’s biggest crypto exchange, agreed to pay $4.3bn (£3.3bn) in 2023 to end a criminal investigation into lax financial controls that prosecutors said meant it illegally served Americans and allowed money to flow to Hamas .

Mr Zhao, known as CZ, moved to Abu Dhabi after leaving prison. Binance’s US operation, which is owned by the wider company but legally distinct from it, offers limited crypto trading services to US citizens.

An investment by the Trump family could pave the way for it to expand in America as the new administration adopts a more pro-crypto tone than under Joe Biden.

Last month, the US Securities and Exchange Commission asked a court to put a separate lawsuit on hold as the White House works out its approach to cryptocurrencies.

Binance has repeatedly been dealt setbacks by financial regulators in Britain and does not offer services to retail customers in the UK.

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