Four Democratic Senators reportedly said Friday (May 9) that they want answers from government officials about any ties between the digital asset ventures related to the family of President Donald Trump and cryptocurrency exchange Binance, which pleaded guilty in November 2023 to charges that it violated money laundering and sanction laws.
Senators Richard Blumenthal, Chris Van Hollen, Elizabeth Warren and Sheldon Whitehouse said this in a letter they sent to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Attorney General Pam Bondi, Bloomberg reported Friday.
In their letter, they ask Bessent and Bondi to report by May 21 the steps they have taken to ensure Binance’s compliance with its plea agreement, a timeline for the company’s planned exit from the U.S., whether the company has requested a pardon for its former CEO, Changpeng Zhao, and whether Binance has discussed with government officials its relationship with the Trump family-related firm World Liberty Financial, according to the report.
“Our concerns about Binance’s compliance obligations are even more pressing given recent reports that the company is using the Trump family’s stablecoin to partner with foreign investment companies,” the senators wrote in the letter, per the report.
It was reported May 1 that World Liberty Financial’s new stablecoin, USD1, was used in March for a $2 billion investment into Binance by Abu Dhabi’s MGX.
World Liberty Financial Co-founder Zach Witkoff announced the use of USD1 in the deal while speaking on a panel at a conference in Dubai, where he was joined by Eric Trump, a son of the president.
In April, it was reported that Binance met with representatives of the Treasury Department to seek looser regulation on the cryptocurrency exchange.
The meeting reportedly came while Binance was exploring a business arrangement with World Liberty Financial.
On Thursday (May 8), a bill to promote stablecoins was blocked in the U.S. Senate over political disagreements and a demand from Democratic senators that a provision be added that would prohibit Trump and other senior officials from profiting from crypto ventures while in office.
Two Republican senators also opposed advancing the bill, with one seeking a provision to prevent large tech companies from issuing their own stablecoins.
