Legal Battle Between Crypto Giants Unfolds
FTX has escalated its legal offensive, filing a lawsuit against Binance and its CEO, Changpeng Zhao, in a bid to claw back $1.7 billion to $1.8 billion. The dispute zeroes in on a 2021 stock repurchase agreement where FTX, using FTT tokens, Binance Coin (BNB), and Binance USD (BUSD), bought back Binance’s stakes in its international and U.S. entities.
The deal, worth $1.76 billion, saw Binance relinquish its 20% stake in FTX’s international unit and 18.4% in its U.S. counterpart. However, FTX now alleges that the transaction was riddled with fraud, claiming its insolvency at the time rendered the payment a “constructive fraudulent transfer.”
Court filings underscore FTX’s stance, asserting that the company may have been insolvent from the outset or, at the latest, by early 2021. The filing, dated November 10, 2024, in Delaware’s bankruptcy court, emphasizes this insolvency, casting the massive payout to Binance as an improper financial maneuver during a time when FTX’s liabilities far exceeded its assets.
Adding fuel to the fire are accusations leveled against CZ, whose tweets in November 2022 allegedly exacerbated FTX’s downfall. On November 6, 2022, Zhao publicly announced Binance’s plans to liquidate its FTT holdings, a move that triggered a liquidity crunch as withdrawals from FTX surged. FTX claims this was part of a calculated strategy to undermine its bid for Voyager Digital’s assets and destabilize the company during a critical period.
This lawsuit is not an isolated incident but part of a broader legal campaign, with FTX initiating 23 legal actions since entering bankruptcy. Notably, FTX has pursued high-profile entities and individuals, including Anthony Scaramucci’s SkyBridge Capital and Crypto.com, citing misuse of corporate funds under Sam Bankman-Fried’s leadership. The filing alleges that SBF splurged $67 million on SkyBridge in 2022, acquiring a 30% stake as the hedge fund’s assets dwindled from $9 billion to $2.2 billion.
Critics now view these ventures as extravagant bids to inflate SBF’s public image rather than sound financial investments.
Binance, on its part, has dismissed the allegations, branding them “meritless” and pledging a vigorous defense. Despite the legal chaos, FTX’s native token, FTT, has surged, gaining 29% in the past week. The token trades at $2.04 with a daily trading volume of $120 million, underscoring the market’s unpredictable response amid the ongoing courtroom drama.
This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.
