A filed a lawsuit against A and its former CEO, seeking to recover almost US$1.8 billion (about R$10.3 billion) that it claims was fraudulently transferred by A.
Binance, Zhao and other Binance executives received the funds as part of a July 2021 share buyback agreement with Bankman-Fried, the co-founder of FTX, who is now in prison. According to a legal document from the FTX estate filed on Sunday (10), they sold stakes of around 20% in FTX’s international unit and 18.4% in the US-based entity.
Bankman-Fried paid for the share buyback using a mix of FTX’s exchange token, FTT, and Binance’s coins, BNB and BUSD, valued at $1.76 billion at the time, according to the document.
Continues after advertising
The FTX estate stated that FTX and its sister company, Alameda Research, “may have been insolvent from the beginning and certainly had an insolvent balance sheet in early 2021.” As a result, the share buyback agreement was made fraudulently, he alleged.
FTX also accused Zhao of posting a series of “false, misleading and fraudulent tweets” shortly before FTX’s collapse, the content of which was “maliciously calculated to destroy his rival.” A tweet from Zhao, dated November 6, 2022, stated that Binance intended to sell its FTT tokens, which were worth around $529 million at the time, causing a spike in withdrawals from the exchange.
“The allegations are unfounded, and we will vigorously defend ourselves,” a Binance spokesperson said in a statement on Monday. A representative for Zhao did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.
Continues after advertising
The lawsuit is one of many filed by FTX against its former investors, affiliates and customers in Delaware bankruptcy court. Other defendants include former White House communications official Anthony Scaramucci, digital asset exchange Crypto.com and political groups such as FWD.US, founded by Mark Zuckerberg, according to court documents.
© 2024 Bloomberg L.P.
Ricardo Bellino from Ensina
How to negotiate and persuade
Learn the art of persuasion from an elite negotiator; learn how to influence and convince people with the strategies of Ricardo Bellino, one of the biggest dealmakers in Brazil.
