CZ Responds to Wall Street Journal: Refutes Claims of Becoming Informant Against Justin Sun
Changpeng ‘CZ’ Zhao, the founder of Binance, has refuted the allegations brought forth by the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) claiming that he made a pact with US officials, allegedly involving him providing testimony against Tron founder Justin Sun.
Justin Sun has also stepped forward to refute the claims from a WSJ article published on Friday (April 11), stating that CZ is “my mentor and a close friend”.
BREAKING: BINANCE EXECUTIVES MET WITH TREASURY DEPARTMENT OFFICIALS LAST MONTH AFTER THE COMPANY ENTERED INTO TALKS WITH A TRUMP FAMILY VENTURE – PER WSJ pic.twitter.com/qRRBbtdDdW
— DEGEN NEWS (@DegenerateNews) April 12, 2025
CZ Strongly Rejected The WSJ Allegations, Describing It As A Smear Campaign Against Him
In a statement from Friday, the WSJ alleged that CZ is cooperating by providing evidence against the Tron distributed ledger founder as part of the plea deal he reached with the US authorities in 2023.
Following the agreement with the Department of Justice (DOJ), CZ spent four months incarcerated in the US, being released in September 2024.
The piece stated that Binance executives had discussions with Treasury Department representatives in March 2023. According to unnamed sources, these conversations were reportedly focused on finding ways to ease the US government’s regulations on the premier crypto asset trading network.
WSJ sources also suggested that Binance was investigating a business arrangement with the Trump family’s crypto venture, World Liberty Financial. Nonetheless, no formal deal has been disclosed at this moment.
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As per the same sources, company executives asked Treasury Department officials in Washington to eliminate the monitor that was supervising Binance’s adherence to Anti-Money Laundering (AML) statutes.
The aim from Binance’s perspective was allegedly to reestablish its presence in the US crypto market after being found guilty of breaching the same AML regulations in 2018.
During the consultation with US officials, CZ reportedly consented to assist prosecutors in examining Justin Sun. Sun is currently under separate scrutiny from the SEC and DOJ and has been a person of interest for some time.
Responding to these rumors, CZ stated on X that “multiple people have told me again WSJ is writing another baseless hit piece about me.”
CZ remarked that even if he had the desire to, he could not serve as a government witness. “They seem to have forgotten who went to prison and who didn’t. Individuals who become gov witnesses do not serve time. They are protected,” he noted on X.
No one in US history went to jail for a single BSA violation, except me.
— CZ
BNB (@cz_binance) April 12, 2025
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Justin Sun Stands By The Binance Founder, Referring To Him As “A Close Friend”
Sun has also voiced his bewilderment at the accusations, stating that he is not aware of the recent rumors concerning CZ. The Tron founder expressed that
He emphasized that the former Binance CEO is a mentor and a close friend. His complete endorsement of CZ states;
“He has given me attention, guidance, and direction during my entrepreneurial journey! To this day, his principles and methodology are still the highest standards I strive for as an entrepreneur.”
The Tron founder suspects these accusations could be tactics employed by their adversaries to instigate discord. In his statement, Sun praised the integrity of the Binance founder while noting that the DOJ is part of the T3 Financial Crime Units (T3 FCU), which also encompasses Tron and Tether.
The distributed ledger intelligence firm TRM Labs constitutes the other member of the T3 FCU, which identifies the DOJ as one of its most trusted partners.
Up to this date, Tether has assisted the unit by freezing over $100 million in USDT acquired through illicit activities.
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Binance founder CZ refutes claims from the Wall Street Journal that he cooperated with US authorities in exchange for a reduced sentence
- The WSJ also accuse CZ of giving information to authorities on Tron founder Justin Sun
- CZ believes there is a smear campaign against him, says he heard WSJ have been paid to spread fake news on him
- Justin Sun defends CZ, calls him a close friend and a mentor, doesn’t believe the allegations
The post CZ Fires Back At Wall Street Journal: Denies Turning Informant On Justin Sun appeared first on 99Bitcoins.
