Binance.US begins trading WLFI and USD1 tokens amid political controversy over Trump’s pardon of exchange founder CZ and alleged financial ties.
Binance.US will launch trading for World Liberty Financial’s USD1 and WLFI tokens on Oct. 29, according to Binance. The exchange opened deposits for the USD1/USDT and WLFI/USDT pairs on Oct. 28.
Deposits for $USD1 are now open on @BinanceUS!
Trading on the USD1/USDT pair will begin on Oct 29 at 7 a.m. EDT.
USD1 is a U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoin issued by @worldlibertyfi and fully backed by regulated reserves including U.S. Treasuries.
— Binance.US 🇺🇸 (@BinanceUS) October 28, 2025
The listing comes as Democratic lawmakers introduce legislation denouncing Trump’s pardon of Changpeng Zhao, Binance’s founder. The president granted the pardon on Oct. 23.
Lawmakers Denounce Pardon
Senators Elizabeth Warren and Adam Schiff announced a resolution on Oct. 27 to condemn the pardon. The lawmakers framed the decision as corruption linked to business relationships between Binance BNB $652.8 24h volatility: 2.0% Market cap: $89.04 B Vol. 24h: $828.78 M and the Trump family’s crypto ventures.
Zhao pled guilty in 2023 to failing to maintain an adequate anti-money laundering system at Binance. The exchange failed to block transactions with Hamas and Al Qaeda, based on court filings. Rep. Ro Khanna introduced separate legislation on Oct. 27 to ban the president, his family members, and Congress from trading cryptocurrency or stocks.
Financial Connections Under Scrutiny
Lawmakers cited financial links between Binance and World Liberty Financial in their statements. World Liberty’s USD1 stablecoin served as the vehicle for a $2 billion investment in Binance by a UAE-backed firm, according to Decrypt. Khanna alleged Zhao was “financing Donald Trump’s cryptocurrency stablecoin” in exchange for the pardon.
The WLFI token briefly surged over 20.72% after the pardon announcement. World Liberty Financial launched the token on Sept. 1, 2025, generating up to $5 billion in paper wealth for the Trump family on its first trading day. The token has experienced volatility, including price drops following World Liberty Financial’s 47 million token burn and WLFI treasury sales to Hut8.
WLFI surged over 20.72% after pardon announcement | Source: Trading View
The White House Press Secretary defended the pardon as ending the Biden administration’s “politically motivated prosecution” against crypto innovators. The Warren-Schiff resolution is unlikely to pass the Republican-controlled Senate.
World Liberty Financial is a crypto platform run by President Donald Trump’s sons, Donald Jr. and Eric.
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