Changpeng Zhao, the CEO of Binance, has refuted a recent report suggesting that he borrowed $250 million from BAM Management, the holding company of Binance.US. The controversy arose in the context of a legal battle between Binance and the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
On September 19, Decrypt, a media outlet, cited court documents related to the ongoing lawsuit. The report stated that Binance.US’ legal team claimed BAM Management US Holdings had issued a $250 million convertible note to Zhao in December. However, Zhao countered this narrative, taking to the social platform X (formerly Twitter) to clarify the situation.
In his X post, Zhao shared a screenshot of the Decrypt report, asserting that it had “misinterpreted the direction” of the transaction. He asserted that, in reality, he had extended a $250 million loan to BAM Management and had not yet received it back. Zhao did not elaborate on specific inaccuracies in the report.
The SEC has repeatedly claimed difficulties in extracting information from Binance during the lawsuit and has sought to make Binance executives more accessible for depositions and information sharing. In a recent hearing, a judge declined the SEC’s motion for inspection, indicating a lack of inclination to proceed with it at this time. The legal battle between Binance and the SEC continues, with ongoing implications for the cryptocurrency industry.
