Changpeng Zhao, founder and former CEO of Binance, has pushed back against a recent Wall Street Journal (WSJ) article that claims he is acting as a “fixer” for World Liberty Financial (WLFI), a DeFi venture linked to the Donald Trump family.
The WSJ report alleged that Zhao facilitated international introductions for WLFI, including engagements in countries like Pakistan.
However, in a May 23 post on X, Zhao stated that the article was misleading and accused the publication of intentionally distorting facts to fit a narrative.
‘Fixer’ allegations
The former Binance executive addressed the report’s suggestion that he arranged introductions between Bilal Bin Saqib, head of the Pakistan Crypto Council, and WLFI.
The article indicated that this connection led to Saqib’s appointment as an advisor to the group and the signing of a memorandum of understanding with the Pakistani government.
However, Zhao rejected the alleged connections, saying:
“I am not a fixer for anyone. I did NOT ‘connect Mr. Saqib with the WLF team.’ They had known each other way back, whereas I only met with Mr. Saqib for the first time in Pakistan. I did NOT make any ‘introductions for World Liberty’s foreign travels.’”
The former Binance CEO also dismissed claims that he had a role in organizing WLFI’s foreign visits, adding that the report was built on false premises. He noted:
“If you get a couple of factual errors wrong, it’s possible to fix. When you make up a story with negative intentions to begin with, there is no way to fix the ‘inaccuracies.’ It’s the entire story.”
Binance’s Zhao vs WSJ
This marks the latest dispute between Zhao and WSJ over what he claims are misleading reports about him.
In April, Zhao dismissed claims that he had agreed to cooperate against Justin Sun as part of a plea deal with US authorities. He also denied prior reports suggesting that President Trump had sought an investment in Binance.
Considering this, the Binance founder likened WSJ’s reporting approach to Cunningham’s Law, which says that the best way to get the correct answer is to post the wrong one.
But Zhao lampooned the traditional media house, saying:
“WSJ instead of doing journalism, has pretty much resorted to Cunningham’s Law, with negative intentions…This is NOT how journalism should work.”
He also concluded that the WSJ stories are being used by anti-crypto interests to undermine the industry, its global leaders, and pro-crypto movements in the US.
He said:
“WSJ is just the mouthpiece. There are forces in the US that want to hinder efforts in making the US the capital of crypto.”
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