Kevin O'Leary And CZ Engage In a War Of Words Over FTX Collapse FTX's new CEO, John Ray, has told the committee that Binance had nothing to do with the collapse of FTX
By Saptak Bardhan •
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Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) and Kevin O'Leary are engaged in a war of words accusing each other. CZ criticised the celebrity investor and Shark Tank-fame O'Leary for his continued support of Sam Bankman-Fried, ex-CEO of the fallen FTX crypto exchange.
CZ was vocal about how $15 million paid by FTX to O'Leary was enough to change his mind and align with a 'fraudster'. According to a tweet thread by the Binance CEO, the world's largest crypto exchange exited FTX in July 2021. CZ mentioned that Bankman-Fried had spent money on political donations and luxury estate while also investing in the Miami Stadium, multiple Super Bowl ads, baseball referees and F1.
CZ mentioned in the tweet thread that Binance became 'increasingly uncomfortable' with Alameda, a cryptocurrency trading firm, and Bankman-Fried, and initiated the exit process over a-year-and-half ago.
O'Leary pointed fingers at Binance for the collapse of FTX. According to O'Leary's statements, Binance and FTX were at war with each other as the former put the later out of business intentionally.
"Maybe there is nothing wrong with love and war, but Binance is a massive unregulated global monopoly now; they put FTX out of business," said O' Leary before the congressional hearing on Wednesday.
FTX's new CEO, John Ray, had already told the committee that Binance had nothing to do with the collapse of FTX on Tuesday.
Bankamn-Fried was arrested in the Bahamas on Monday after US federal prosecutors charged him with eight criminal counts which included wire fraud as well as conspiracy after Bankamn-Fried was believed to be misusing customer funds before the collapse of Alameda and FTX.
