Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, co-founder and former CEO of Binance, disagreed with the Wall Street Journal report, calling it a “hit piece” full of inaccuracies and negative assumptions.
In an X post, Zhao criticized the publication’s portrayal of alleged involvement with World Liberty Financial, a decentralized financial project supported by a business entity affiliated with US President Donald Trump. Trump’s son – Eric and Donald Jr. are involved in managing the company.
Zhao said the WSJ article portrayed him as acting as a “fixer” for the WLF team and its co-founder Zach Witkoff during his overseas trip.
This article suggested that Zhao promoted introductions and meetings of WLF leaders during their international travel.
“I’m not a steadfast for anyone,” Zhao said he denies linking Pakistan’s official “Mr. Saqib” with the WLF or organizing an engagement overseas. “They knew each other, but I was only the first time I met Mr Sakib in Pakistan.”
WSJ reports on Steve and Zach Witkoff
Zhao’s response follows a WSJ study highlighting a complex string of diplomatic and business interests involving WLF.
The report raised concerns about the blurred line between public obligations and private interests, focusing on diplomatic and business transactions involving WLF co-founder Steve Witkoff and his son Zach Witkoff. Steve Witkoff served as US envoy for the Middle East under the Trump administration, and Zach Witkoff is involved in securing the reported $2 billion crypto transactions.
The report raises doubts about whether diplomatic efforts overlapped with private crypto ventures, potentially implying that Zhao was trying to curry favor with the Trump administration.
On May 6th, Zhao confirmed he was seeking pardon from the Trump administration for his previous money laundering conviction.
The report also emphasizes that WLFI, which raised more than $600 million in token sales, has not disclosed the names of all investors except for publicly known ones, such as Tron founder Justin San, who attended Trump’s Memocoin Dinner on May 22.
Trump hosted a dinner for the biggest investor of his official Trump (Trump) memo coin. Sun, Magic Eden CEO Jack Lu and Bitmart CEO Sheldon Xia were attendees and shared photos from the event.
Related: Binance wins a legitimate victory as UK courts partially dismiss the Bitcoin SV case
Zhao claims that WSJ reports are “attacks” against cryptography
Zhao claimed that the WSJ submitted a list of questions that included what he described as “false negative assumptions.” He and his public relations team responded by pointing out some de facto inaccuracies, but he said, concluded that the article was “built on a flawed story.”
Zhao blames the WSJ and calls it the “mouthpiece” of the US anti-cryptic military. He said the forces behind the publication wanted to hamper their efforts to turn the United States into crypto capital.
“They want to attack the global crypto leaders and the pro-crypto administration,” CZ argued that the article is part of a broader effort to curb the growth of the US industry.
This is not the first time Zhao has recently returned to WSJ. In a report on April 11, the publication cited an anonymous source claiming that Zhao agreed to testify against Tron founder Justin Sun when he settled with a US prosecutor.
CZ rejected the report, saying that those who will become government witnesses do not go to prison and are in protection. CZ also claimed that someone paid to WSJ employees to paint his name.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkc5qcrvdc0
magazine: Crypto Scam Hub Expose Stunt Goid Goid Goid, Kakao detects 70K scam apps: Asia Express
