The Mar-a-Lago event blended politics and digital assets, signaling deeper ties between the industry and power brokers.
Former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) returned to the United States this week for the first time since his release from a federal prison in California in 2024.
The visit took place at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, where Zhao attended a 500-person conference hosted by the Trump family-backed World Liberty Financial.
CZ appears at Crypto Event
This is evident from a report by the Wall Street Journal (WSJ). revealed that the meeting brought together prominent figures from the worlds of finance, technology and entertainment.
Guests included Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon, New York Stock Exchange president Lynn Martin, “Shark Tank” personality Kevin O’Leary, and Coinbase founder Brian Armstrong, who attended a smaller VIP dinner in addition to Trump’s sons and CZ on Tuesday evening. Rapper Nicki Minaj, who has publicly supported the Trump administration, also held a “fireside chat” that day.
Posting to X on the occasion, Zhao shared a photo of him listening to a top federal crypto regulator and writing, “Learned a lot.”
CZ, whose crypto exchange has been banned from operating in the US since 2023 for violating anti-money laundering rules, pleaded guilty to a related charge that same year. He was subsequently sentenced to four months in prison in April 2024 and officially released at the end of September after serving his term.
Later in October 2025, the crypto entrepreneur received a presidential pardon from President Donald Trump. During a recent interview on the “All-In” podcast, Zhao said he “did nothing” to secure the leniency, but noted that this could help the exchange resume its efforts to return to the U.S. market.
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World Liberty unveils ambitious crypto vision
World Liberty’s leadership took the opportunity to outline its vision for the cryptocurrency industry. CEO Zach Witkoff described the company’s goal as creating a “new digital Bretton Woods system,” referring to the 1944 conference that established a postwar economic order.
Its co-founders, the Trump sons, spoke about the magnitude of the event, with Donald Trump Jr. joking about how unthinkable it would have been a year ago. Meanwhile, Eric Trump compared it to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, saying it offered “better hospitality, better food, better weather, a better group of people, less wokeness.”
The company also promoted its stablecoin, USD1, and outlined plans to sell digital tokens that would give accredited investors a share of loan revenue from a Trump resort under development in the Maldives.
The president’s sons also addressed questions about foreign investment in World Freedom, including a $500 million deal with a senior Abu Dhabi royal, stressing that such moves are standard in global finance and are not related to government deals.
Several other Trump administration officials were also in attendance, including Michael Selig, chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and Undersecretary of Economic Affairs Jacob Helberg.
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