Last updated on December 31st, 2022 at 07:12 am
Changpeng Zhao (CZ), CEO of Binance, expressed his displeasure with Kevin O’Leary’s statements in an interview with CNBC. In the interview, Kevin O’Leary claims that the CEO of the FTX exchange, Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), is telling the truth when he claims that he did not knowingly commingle FTX client funds. He also stated that declaring SBF guilty before being tried is unreasonable.
Conversely, CZ believes Kevin is defending Sam Bankman-Fried and siding with a “fraudster.”
CZ stated that his company opted out of the exchange in July 2021 and has been unable to keep up with the company. However, since then, FTX has received over 470 investments, totaling $5.5 billion. The company also “invested” in personal frivolities and luxury items, including the Miami stadium, political donations, and luxury real estate. All this was done using investors’ funds and not SBF’s money, which explains why the exchange was bankrupted.
Kevin O’Leary claims he was paid $15 million to be a spokesperson for FTX and claims to have approximately $1 million in equity and $9.7 million in FTX accounts, which are currently equal to zero. CZ expressed his disbelief that O’Leary could ignore the “greatest financial crime in history” and continue to believe in SBF.
CZ stated that his firm always conducts due diligence before venturing into any investment. As soon as he spotted foul play with Alameda Research and SBF, he exited the firm. SBF was allegedly enraged about Binance’s withdrawal and threatened to “make them pay.” CZ claims to still have the text messages sent by SBF.
He also added that ethnicity was a major tool used by FTX to deceive people in the industry and that it would most likely be used again at the court hearing on December 14th.
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