Binance CEO sues Bloomberg subsidiary alleging defamation
Binance CEO News
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Binance CEO sues Bloomberg subsidiary alleging defamation
Binance chief executive Changpeng Zhao sued Bloomberg Businessweek in Hong Kong alleging defamation. On July 25, the CEO of Binance, known as CZ by the crypto community, sued Modern Media Co Ltd, publisher of Bloomberg Business weeks Hong Kong. The filing included defamation claims that stemmed from a translated Chinese article alleging that the exchange boss was running a crypto Ponzi scheme.
The filing documents claimed that Modern Media published a report containing "false, malicious and defamatory statements regarding Zhao and his company, Binance Holdings Ltd." The Chinese version ran its own version of a June 23 Bloomberg article titled "Can crypto's richest man stand the cold?" But the title "Zhao Changpeng's Ponzi Scheme" was published.
On June 25, CZ commented on the original article, "Although most of Bloomberg's reporters are good, this time it was bad." On Monday, he said, "Be accountable for your actions." Zhao is also suing the publication for using a Ponzi-referencing title in the Chinese version of Bloomberg Businessweek's social media accounts to promote the article. According to the filing, the Chinese-language article was also distributed in print around Hong Kong on July 7.
Zhao is following a decision to bar the publication in Hong Kong from republishing allegedly defamatory statements. He also wants to look at the removal and withdrawal of statements along with loss, interest and cost. According to court documents, Bloomberg partly satisfied some of Zhao's concerns by changing the article's title to "The Mysterious Changpeng Zhao" before filing the lawsuit.
It is also understood that the offending social media post was removed and physical copies of the translated article were recalled to HongKong. This is not the first time that Zhao and Binance have sued the media. In 2020, Binance Holdings Ltd filed a defamation suit against Forbes Media LLC, but quietly dropped the case the following year. Cointelegraph reached out to Binance representatives for comment, but did not hear back atpress time.
Changpeng Zhao, the CEO of cryptocurrency exchange Binance, has filed an action in New York’s Supreme Court against Bloomberg, alleging that its subsidiary misrepresented his involvement in a long-running Ponzi scheme.