Binance News Today: Binance’s CEO Files a Lawsuit Against Bloomberg for Libel

Changpeng Zhao, CEO of Binance, recently filed suit against Bloomberg Businessweek for posting three allegedly defamatory statements in its Chinese edition, published in Hong Kong, and its associated Twitter and Facebook pages.

Based on a copy of the lawsuit filed this past Friday in Hong Kong High Court, Zhao is suing the Chinese edition of Bloomberg’s Businessweek for reprinting the Bloomberg US article “Can Crypto’s Richest Man Stand the Cold?”

The comments here says it all. While most journalist at Bloomberg are good, but this time, it was bad.

— CZ 🔶 Binance (@cz_binance) June 24, 2022

According to the Chinese edition of Bloomberg Businessweek, which translates as “Zhao Changpeng’s Ponzi Scheme,” Zhao is suing for unspecified damages and compensation in a “Personal Suit.” Twitter and Facebook posts promoting the articles allegedly feature the phrase twice, which supports the reports. The lawsuit is unrelated to Binance, a cryptocurrency exchange.

According to the Hong Kong documents filed by Zhao, the defamatory allegations “were meant to hold [Zhao] up to hatred, scorn, and ridicule.”

Zhao argues the assertions were made with the intent to damage his reputation, especially among his current and potential right-thinking counterparties. In the lawsuit, the CEO’s legal team said the publications made the statements sound more spectacular than they actually were.

Attorneys for Zhao claimed that the article’s original English version contained the same defamatory allegations. It has been reported that the original article made several serious defamatory allegations about Zhao and Binance that were not backed up by evidence and could lead readers astray about their possible involvement in unlawful activities.

A Bloomberg article claimed that “at Binance the sketchiness has a certain wholeness to it” and that Binance is “a huge shitcoin casino,” both of which Zhao found to be slanderous.

Despite the fact that “most journalist[s] at Bloomberg are good,” Zhao admitted in a June article that “this time it was awful.”

Zhao is seeking an injunction ordering the publication to cease publishing such remarks in the future, as well as the recall and removal of any such statements that have already been published, as well as the imposition of damages, fees, and interests.

 

Conflicts in Zhao’s Courts

Zhao has filed similar defamation suits against other media outlets before. In 2020, he also launched a lawsuit against Forbes US for allegedly falsely claiming that Binance’s organizational structure was designed to trick U.S. regulators and investors.

However, Zhao eventually decided to withdraw his complaint.

Be accountable for your actions.

— CZ 🔶 Binance (@cz_binance) July 25, 2022