Update (Oct. 30 at 7:30 pm UTC): This article has been updated to include an X post from Binance.US.
Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy is calling out Binance.US, alleging the cryptocurrency exchange played a role in US President Donald Trump’s pardon of former Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao.
In a Tuesday X post, Murphy responded to a social media post by Binance.US announcing the launch of trading for USD1, the stablecoin tied to the Trump family crypto company World Liberty Financial. According to the senator, the exchange was “promoting Trump crypto” just a week after the president “pardoned Binance’s owner,” referring to Zhao.
Trump’s pardon of Zhao on Oct. 23 sparked debate across the crypto community and Congress. Although CZ said in May that he had applied for a presidential pardon, many questioned whether Trump or his family were responding to financial incentives, including an Abu Dhabi-based company investing $2 billion in Binance using the USD1 stablecoin.
Related: Trump’s crypto pardons raise ethics and corruption concerns
In a response posted Wednesday on X, Binance.US said it conducts a “comprehensive due diligence and legal review before listing any asset […] whether it’s a stablecoin, a new ecosystem project, or a meme token.”
The exchange added that “not only are USD1 and WLFI already listed on 20+ major exchanges […] but these assets have both been approved for some time by our listing committee in its ordinary course of business.” Binance.US continued:
“To be clear, this was a business decision on the part of Binance.US and nothing more. It’s unfortunate that even routine business decisions are now unfairly politicized by our elected officials.”
While the Binance and Binance.US exchanges share a name, the two companies are separate legal entities. Cointelegraph reached out to Binance.US and Murphy’s office for comment, but had not received a response at the time of publication.
Ongoing scrutiny into CZ’s pardon
Several lawmakers in the House of Representatives and the Senate have called for probes into the CZ pardon or have otherwise criticized the move. In a Tuesday letter to the Justice Department, seven senators said the pardon “signals to cryptocurrency executives and other white-collar criminals that they can commit crimes with impunity.”
On Monday, California Representative Ro Khanna announced his intention to introduce legislation that would prevent any US president, their family, and members of Congress from trading cryptocurrencies or stocks. He specifically cited Zhao’s pardon, claiming it was “blatant corruption” at the White House.
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