Binance CEO

Chanpeng Zhao, the CEO of Binance, said that the loan was the other way around, claiming that he was the one who lent $250 million to BAM Management.

Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao has disputed a recent report that claimed the executive took a $250 million loan from BAM Management, a firm that acts as Binance.US’ holdings company. 

On Sept. 19, a report from the media outlet Decrypt interpreted court documents related to a lawsuit between Binance and the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The report said that Binance US's legal team claimed in the documents that BAM Management US Holdings "issued a $250 million convertible note to Zhao in December." However, Zhao disputed the report and expressed his rebuttal on X (formerly Twitter).

The amount of wrong information is just...

They got the direction wrong. I loaned $250 million to BAM a while back, not the other way around. And have not taken it back. ‍♂️ pic.twitter.com/encGx1u557

— CZ Binance (@cz_binance) September 20, 2023

In a post, Zhao shared a screenshot of the report and said that the outlet “got the direction wrong.” According to the Binance CEO, the loan was the other way around. He explained in the tweet that he was the one who gave BAM Management $250 million as a loan and claimed that he had not yet taken it back. 

The Binance executive also implied in the tweet that there is lot of “wrong information” in the report. However, Zhao did not further specify which other details of the report were inaccurate.

Related: CZ post on X about Ceffu and Binance.US contradicts SEC claims, adds to confusion

Amid its legal battle with Binance, the SEC has claimed repeatedly that it has been struggling to extract information from Binance and Binance.US since the start of the lawsuit. Because of this, the SEC filed a motion to require Binance to make its executives more available for depositions and hand over detailed information. However, in a recent hearing to discuss the SEC's motion, a judge said that he wasn't "inclined to allow the inspection" at the moment.

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Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao wrote that decentralized finance will continue to accelerate, and more people will interact with DeFi products.

Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao wrote a letter addressing the exchange’s users, reflecting on past crypto winters and laying out key trends shaping up within the industry as the company celebrates its sixth anniversary. 

Within the letter, Zhao highlighted some of the company’s challenges throughout its journey. The executive said that in January 2018, the firm saw new records for user registration. However, it was followed by a decline in the market. Despite this, the Binance executive noted that during this bear market, its team learned the importance of “prudent financial management.”

We wouldn’t be where we are without all of you, our community.

To show our appreciation, we’re hosting #BinanceTurns6 community meet-ups all around the world and would love for you to join!

Learn how ➡️ https://t.co/DElSzHL1b3 pic.twitter.com/K5IFss5xp6

— Binance (@binance) July 9, 2023

In the company’s second crypto winter, the Binance CEO talked about the firm’s investments in the collapsed crypto project Terra and the bankrupt crypto exchange FTX. Zhao wrote that the firm saw its initial $3 million investment in Terra Classic (LUNC) soar to $1.6 billion in value before crashing close to $0 in 2022. He added that the company exited fully on its investment in FTX at an early stage, more than a year before it crashed. 

The incidents opened more regulatory scrutiny on the space, with Binance being grouped with FTX. Zhao wrote:

“Even then, a few regulators or news outlets tried really hard to group Binance and FTX together. To that, I will just say: We are different. Not every investment firm on Wall Street is Madoff.”

Despite the troubles it faced, the Binance CEO noted that it will continue to prioritize its users and protect their interests.

Related: Bitcoin bull run incoming: Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao reveals when

Besides reflecting on the exchange’s journey throughout the years, Zhao also laid out some trends currently taking shape within the space. According to the executive, traditional finance coming into the arena will ease institutional crypto adoption, decentralized finance (DeFi) will continue to accelerate, and more people will interact with its products, while regulated exchanges will continue to grow despite the uncertainties in the market at the moment.

“It is absolutely clear that the countries that get this right first will enjoy a huge advantage over countries that don’t, for centuries to come. We are at a pivotal moment in history,” Zhao wrote.

Collect this article as an NFT to preserve this moment in history and show your support for independent journalism in the crypto space.

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