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The CEO of Binance, Changpeng Zhao, has recently sued Bloomberg Businessweek for allegedly publishing 3 defamatory statements in its Chinese edition, published in Hong Kong along with its affiliated Twitter and Facebook accounts.
As per the filing copy submitted in Hong Kong High Court this Friday, Zhao sued the Chinese edition of Bloomberg’s Businessweek for publishing the Bloomberg US article, “Can Crypto’s Richest Man Stand the Cold?”
The comments here says it all. While most journalist at Bloomberg are good, but this time, it was bad.
— CZ 🔶 Binance (@cz_binance) June 24, 2022
Zhao is seeking legal damages and compensation and is filing a “Personal Suit” as the Chinese edition of Bloomberg Businessweek wrote a phrase which translates to “Zhao Changpeng’s Ponzi Scheme.” As per the reports, the phrase has been used twice in Twitter and Facebook posts while promoting the stories. The suit is unaffiliated with the crypto exchange, Binance.
Zhao’s filings in Hong Kong contemplate that the published defamatory statements “were calculated to hold [Zhao] up to hatred, contempt, and ridicule.”
Zhao claims these statements were intended to lower his image, particularly in the community of existing and potential right-thinking counterparties. As per the suit, the CEO’s legal counsel argued that these statements were published in a sensational manner.
Zhao’s legal counsel alleged that the original English-language version of the article also contained these defamatory statements. As per the reports, the original article also had various profound unsubstantiated defamatory statements against Zhao and Binance, which would mislead the readers into thinking that they have been involved in illegal activities.
Bloomberg published that “at Binance the sketchiness has a certain completeness to it” and that Binance is “a massive shitcoin casino“—statements Zhao believed defamatory.
In June, Zhao wrote in an article, “While most journalist[s] at Bloomberg are good, this time, it was bad.”
Zhao is looking forward to an injunction stopping the publication from publishing such statements again and removing and recalling the statements already published along with the charges for the legal damages, costs, and interests.
Zhao’s Legal Battles
This is not the first time Zhao has sued a media company for publishing defamatory statements. He had also filed a complaint against Forbes US in 2020, as they had claimed that Binance’s structure is made in a way to deceive the regulators and investors in the U.S.
However, Zhao later dropped that lawsuit.
Be accountable for your actions.
— CZ 🔶 Binance (@cz_binance) July 25, 2022