New Report Unmasks Trump Family’s Billion-Dollar Crypto Corruption Tied to Sanctioned Binance

A new investigative report from Public Citizen pulls back the curtain on a staggering web of corruption linking the Trump family’s cryptocurrency venture, World Liberty Financial, to Binance — the crypto giant that pleaded guilty last year to sanctions and money laundering violations involving Iran.

World Liberty Financial, co-founded by Donald Trump, his sons, and Steve Witkoff (Trump’s special envoy for peace), has roughly $1 billion at stake in this crypto scheme. The report, titled “Conflict Coin: How the Trumps’ Billion-Dollar Crypto Stake Depends on a Company That Helped Iran Evade Sanctions,” exposes how the Trump family’s crypto dealings rely heavily on Binance, a company that has flagrantly violated U.S. sanctions laws and facilitated billions in transactions for terrorist-linked groups.

Binance’s 2023 plea deal with the Department of Justice and Treasury Department included guilty admissions to anti-money laundering failures, unlicensed money transmission, and sanctions violations. The company paid a staggering $4.3 billion in penalties — one of the largest corporate fines ever. Its CEO, Changpeng Zhao (known as CZ), served four months in prison for failing to maintain adequate anti-money laundering controls.

Yet, despite these damning facts, the Trump family chose to launch World Liberty Financial about a year after Binance’s guilty plea, knowingly partnering with a company under federal scrutiny for aiding America’s adversaries, including Iran — a country Trump’s administration aggressively targeted. The report highlights how Binance accounts have been used by at least eight entities sanctioned for terrorism ties, some of which were prosecuted under Trump’s own government.

Public Citizen’s Zach Everson, Research Director for the Trump Accountability Project, called the partnership “flagrantly corrupt.” He noted that Binance’s continued support for Iranian interests only deepens the scandal, yet the Trumps have only strengthened their relationship with the crypto giant.

This revelation underscores a broader pattern of the Trump administration’s dismantling of enforcement tools that could hold crypto companies accountable. The administration pardoned Binance’s founder, dropped SEC lawsuits against the company, and issued directives to halt prosecution of crypto platforms — moves that cleared the path for these corrupt dealings.

The opaque nature of cryptocurrency, often touted as a feature for speculators, here serves as a convenient veil for illicit activity and self-enrichment at the highest levels of power. The Trump family’s billion-dollar crypto stake, built on a foundation of a company that enabled sanctioned regimes and terrorist groups to evade U.S. law, is a glaring example of how corruption and conflicts of interest thrive when accountability is absent.

For Americans concerned about democratic integrity and government accountability, this report is a clarion call: the Trump family’s crypto corruption is not just a financial scandal, it is a national security threat that demands full transparency and investigation.

Read the full Public Citizen report here: https://www.citizen.org/news/new-report-exposes-trump-cryptocurrency-corruption/