Binance Token Jumps After Report of Trump Family Discussing Stake

Binance's BNB token rose 4% on Thursday, bucking the broader crypto downturn, following a Wall Street Journal report that the Trump family has discussed securing a financial stake in the U.S. arm of the exchange.

The past two weeks have been full of must-know events that will define the future of blockchain, cryptocurrency, and NFTs.

With Binance token jumping after reports of Trump family discussions and more, there’s lots of essential news you should know about. So, let’s dive in and see what’s happening!

Binance’s BNB token rose 4% on Thursday, bucking the broader crypto downturn, following a Wall Street Journal report that the Trump family has discussed securing a financial stake in the U.S. arm of the exchange.

Such a deal would tie the Trumps to a company that pleaded guilty to violating anti-money laundering laws in 2023.

The report states that Binance first approached Trump allies last year with a proposal to help the struggling exchange regain its footing in the U.S. Meanwhile, Binance founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) is reportedly seeking a presidential pardon after serving four months in prison for anti-money laundering violations.

However, the legal and political implications of the Trumps engaging with Binance, a company that has faced significant legal troubles and scrutiny, are unclear.

MoonPay is further expanding its reach in the enterprise market by acquiring Iron, a stablecoin infrastructure startup focused on API solutions.

This marks MoonPay’s second major acquisition in two months, highlighting its strategy to dominate the growing stablecoin payments sector.

“We believe everyone will eventually have a digital currency wallet, whether through a bank or independently. Our goal is to ensure compatibility with the traditional financial system,” MoonPay Co-Founder and CEO Ivan Soto-Wright told CNBC’s Squawk Box in an exclusive interview.

MoonPay already simplifies entry into the crypto economy by supporting traditional payment methods like debit cards, bank accounts, PayPal, Venmo, Apple Pay, and Google Pay.

Aiming to streamline stablecoin payments for businesses, Iron provides turnkey solutions for integrating stablecoins into enterprise applications.

The startup offers a no-code platform and pre-built widgets that enable developers to quickly launch stablecoin payment options within their products or services.

Russia is using cryptocurrencies in its oil trade with China and India to circumvent Western sanctions, according to four sources familiar with the matter.

While Russia has publicly signaled openness to digital currencies and passed a law last summer permitting crypto payments in international trade, their use in the country’s oil sector has not been previously disclosed.

Some Russian oil companies are using Bitcoin, Ether, and stablecoins such as Tether to facilitate the conversion of Chinese yuan and Indian rupees into Russian roubles, three of the sources said. This practice is a small but growing segment of Russia’s oil trade, which was valued at $192 billion last year, according to the International Energy Agency.