Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao has condemned FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried for portraying him and others as “bad guys”, following the collapse of the FTX crypto exchange last month.
Earlier this week, CZ went on Twitter to explain his side during FTX’s collapse, and correct “wrong narratives” according to himself.
According to him, the now-former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried is “one of the greatest fraudsters in history,” — Zhao went on to slam his former competitor by claiming that is a “master manipulator” when it comes to portraying himself in the media.
“SBF perpetuated a narrative painting me and other people as the ‘bad guys.’ It was critical in maintaining the fantasy that he was a ‘hero.’ SBF is one of the greatest fraudsters in history, he is also a master manipulator when it comes to media and key opinion leaders,” said Zhao in one tweet.
CZ Disregards “Crypto Savior” Claims
During the series of Tweets, Zhao discredited claims that he looked to become some sort of “crypto savior”, during his failed attempt of purchasing FTX just days before its bankruptcy. A couple of days after backing out of the deal, CZ announced a new recovery fund in order to protect crypto start-ups that could be in financial danger due to the market crash.
“Crypto doesn’t need saving. Crypto is fine. It’s the beauty of decentralization. We are just part of it,” Binance’s CEO wrote. “We want to help other good projects that may be in a cash crunch because of recent events. It’s in our collective best interest.”
Did Zhao Give The “Kickstart” For The Market Collapse?
While not having any participation in FTX’s finances, many in the community claim that Changpeng Zhao’s decision to completely liquidate FTT assets from its exchange was the cause that eventually led to the utter crash in the market that send Bitcoin below $18,000 for the first time in two years.
At the time, Changpeng Zhao tweeted that he would be shorting his FTT tokens, which eventually led to thousands of investors copying Zhao’s decision.
“No healthy business can be destroyed by a tweet.” he wrote.
At the end of the day, SBF’s borderline-criminal decision to trade with his company’s assets is ultimately what led to its downfall. However, Binance was arguably one of the few “winners” from its collapse.
On November 19, Binance reported a record-breaking Bitcoin inflow into its platform. Meanwhile, others like Carol Alexander from The Guardian claim that Changpeng Zhao’s company is on its way to becoming the “Amazon of Crypto”.
The company’s token known as BNB devalued by only 17% since the market crash. A significant number indeed, but modest when compared to other assets. Bitcoin fell by nearly 20%, while Crypto.com’s Cronos lost 50% of its value. Obviously, FTX was the biggest loser, with the FTT token losing over 93% of value in the span of a week.
