CZ rejects 'negative narratives' from 'complete false news from FT'

Binance founder, Changpeng Zhao (CZ), has dismissed a report on YZi Labs by Financial Times, claiming the report is fake ￰0￱ former CEO of the exchange took to his X account to protest the reports that have made the rounds since earlier ￰1￱ founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) has pushed back against a recent Financial Times report about YZi Labs, a crypto investment firm linked to his ￰2￱ described the report as “complete false news” and stated that it was filled with “fake, wrong, or made-up info.” In a series of posts on X, CZ said that the publication misrepresented YZi’s operations, his role, and even his past regulatory case, while promoting what he called “negative narratives.” CZ pushes back on “false narratives” The FT article portrayed YZi Labs , which was founded in January 2025 and led by former Binance executive Ella Zhang, as one of the world’s largest crypto investors managing Zhao’s ￰3￱ also reported that the fund is exploring ways to raise funds from outside investors.

Zhao, however, denied nearly every element of that ￰4￱ his posts, CZ accused FT of publishing inaccuracies without his participation. “Complete false news from FT, with fake/wrong/made-up info and negative ￰5￱ is just from what I gathered on social media, I did not even read the FT ￰6￱ subscription,” he ￰7￱ then went ahead to list a series of clarifications about YZi ￰8￱ clarified that the company is not raising external fundraising, does not have a demo or a pitch deck and that there has never been a plan for ￰9￱ up rumors In his post, CZ made it clear that YZiLabs, since rebranding, has not sought a single external investor. “No requests, no discussions,” he ￰10￱ also denied being in communication with the former SEC Commissioner, Paul Atkins, who is now the Chair of the Commission, despite FT reporting otherwise.

“I do respect Chairman Atkins tremendously, just from all the public info I see,” CZ added, but maintained there had been no ￰11￱ also stressed that YZi Labs was not “spun out of Binance,” as ￰12￱ stated that the company is operating independently, disputing the idea that it functions as an extension of his former ￰13￱ Binance founder also defended his past brush with the ￰14￱ system, which was mentioned in the report. “I plead to a single violation of BSA, failure to maintain an adequate ANTI-money laundering ￰15￱ to what FT characterized as ‘money laundering’ violations,” he wrote. “Failure to police is not the same as ￰16￱ very different things that the traditional media keeps on intentionally mixing up.” CZ mentioned in his post that he had been invited by FT for a lunch interview with assurances of “positive coverage,” but declined at the last minute.

“It was a trap! Cancelling that lunch now,” he wrote, before signing off with the remark: “Ethics… 4.” Join Bybit now and claim a $50 bonus in minutes