The founder of the cryptocurrency exchange Binance, Changpeng Zhao (CZ), is seeking to have the $1.76 billion lawsuit from the bankrupt exchange FTX dismissed. In his court filing, Zhao emphasizes that the U.S. Supreme Court lacks jurisdiction over this case, as he is a resident of the UAE and all disputed transactions occurred outside the U.S.
This is reported by Finway
Details of the lawsuit and the defense’s position
The FTX lawsuit is related to a share buyback from Binance in 2021. According to FTX, client funds were used for this transaction. However, Zhao’s lawyers describe these accusations as baseless, stressing that all financial operations were conducted through companies registered in Ireland, the Cayman Islands, and the British Virgin Islands.
According to case materials, FTX claims that the share buyback was financed through Binance USD digital assets and FTT tokens. Meanwhile, Zhao’s defense emphasizes that he did not receive these funds directly and acted solely as a “nominal party” in the transaction.
Impact of social media posts and additional claims
A separate block of accusations pertains to CZ’s posts on social media platform X (formerly Twitter) in November 2022. FTX believes that his messages about selling FTT tokens led to panic among clients and mass withdrawals. Zhao, for his part, is convinced that the true reason for FTX’s collapse was its “fraudulent nature,” not his actions on social media.
“Even if Mr. Zhao’s social media posts contributed to the crisis, FTX never had a right to exist from the start,” his lawyers stated.
Zhao’s defense compared FTX’s claims to accusing a whistleblower of destroying a financial pyramid. In May 2025, Binance already initiated an attempt to dismiss this lawsuit, calling it “legally untenable.” In addition to Zhao himself, FTX is also making claims against former Binance executives Samuel Lim and Dinghua Xiao.
It is worth noting that Zhao spent four months in prison last year on money laundering charges. Meanwhile, former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried is serving a 25-year prison sentence and is preparing for an appeal.
It was previously reported that CZ also shared information about Coinbase’s involvement as an “anonymous source” for Bloomberg.