Last updated on March 25th, 2026 at 11:11 pm
Binance’s Chief Strategy Officer, Patrick Hillman, has accused Samuel Bankman-Fried (SBF) of spreading false and discriminatory rumours about Binance’s CEO, Changpeng Zhao (CZ), prior to the collapse of Bankman-Fried’s cryptocurrency exchange, FTX.
Hillman alleged that Bankman-Fried relied on portraying Zhao as an “evil Chinese” to carry out his scheme successfully, adding that Bankman-Fried couldn’t present himself as the hero without depicting Zhao as the villain, much like the character of Darth Vader is crucial to Luke Skywalker’s story.
A great read by @WilliamCohan at @PuckNews. One thing they missed, Sam was CONSTANTLY spreading fake rumors about @cz_binance, because shading him as an “evil Chinese” was critical to his scam. You can’t pretend to be Luke Skywalker without Darth Vader.https://t.co/oi9JxsqPyz
— Patrick Hillmann (@PRHillmann) April 20, 2023
Hillman’s statement was in response to a recent Puck magazine article that offered a new narrative of FTX’s downfall. The article was written from the perspective of Anthony Scaramucci, a member of the Skybridge Capital hedge fund.
According to the article, Bankman-Fried had been speaking ill of Changpeng Zhao during meetings with officials in Dubai. While Scaramucci was not present in those meetings, his colleague from Skybridge had attended and informed him of the misconduct.
The article also claimed that Bankman-Fried paid $45 million for a stake in Skybridge, and Scaramucci invested $10 million of that sum in FTT, the native token of FTX. However, the investment lost almost all of its value when FTX crashed in November.
Bankman-Fried and Zhao have been embroiled in a personal rivalry for a considerable period. At one point, when FTX was facing financial difficulties, Binance offered to purchase the firm for $1 billion. However, after conducting a comprehensive assessment of the company, Binance withdrew from the deal the following day, citing issues beyond its control.
Hillman clarified that the animosity between Bankman-Fried and Zhao did not result in Binance withdrawing from the rescue deal or selling its FTT holdings. Hillman also mentioned that Bankman-Fried’s criticism of Zhao was a common occurrence within their group.
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