Changpeng Zhao, Binance CEO, is suing Bloomberg Businessweek’s Hong Kong publisher Modern Media Company Limited for defamation. The slander stems from a translated Chinese article that alleged that CZ was running a crypto Ponzi scheme.
The lawsuit claims that Modern Media published a report that contained false, malicious, and defamatory statements about CZ and Binance Holdings Limited. The Chinese article was based on a June 23 Bloomberg article titled “Can Crypto’s Richest Man Stand the Cold?” It was published under another title “Zhao Changpeng’s Ponzi Scheme.”
Commenting on the original article on June 25, CZ said it was bad. He told the journalists to be accountable for their actions. The Binance CEO tweeted that Bloomberg picked only old negatives. He described it as unprofessional. As such, CZ is suing the Hong Kong media house for using the Ponzi-referencing title in the Chinese edition of Bloomberg Businessweek’s social media accounts to promote the article. The lawsuit states that the Chinese language article was distributed in print around Hong Kong on July 7.
It should be noted that this is CZ’s personal suit and has nothing to do with the Binance crypto exchange or the company. The defamation also came from the original article (Bloomberg US) which read that the original article contained several serious and defamatory allegations made against Zhao and Binance that were completely unsubstantiated. It was obviously designed to mislead readers into believing that CZ and Binance have been engaging in illegal or unsavory activities.
Through the lawsuit, CZ wants to see the removal and recalling of the statements along with damages, interest, and costs. So far, Bloomberg has partially satisfied some of CZ’s concerns before the lawsuit was filed. It changed the article title to “The Mysterious Changpeng Zhao.”
