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FTX spokesperson Kevin O'Leary claims that SBF said it was Binance that drained FTX's funds, but CZ rebutted that claim as outrageous.

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FTX spokesperson Kevin O

Binance founder Zhao Changpeng CZ stated that Kevin O'Leary, FTX ambassador and participant on the show "Shark Tank," made baseless accusations against Binance on CNBC, even claiming that Binance caused FTX to spend a lot of money. Zhao Changpeng further elaborated on the history between FTX and Binance.

Kevin O’Leary Claims in Interview: Binance Drained FTX's Funds

Kevin O’Leary claimed on a show that after the FTX incident, he asked SBF where all the company's funds had gone and what was holding them up.

Kevin O’Leary stated that SBF told him that a large amount of FTX's cash assets, approximately 20%, were heavily spent on buying back the equity in Binance. The reason for doing so was that as long as FTX applied for regulatory licenses anywhere, they would be hindered due to the opaque ownership of Binance, so FTX had to spend billions of dollars to buy back the shares.

However, SBF did not respond to whether they used customer assets to do this.

Changpeng Zhao: FTX Splurges on Investments After Binance's Exit

CZ stated that in addition to this, FTX also spent money on naming the Miami stadium, advertising at the Super Bowl and various sports events, not to mention political donations and real estate, committing the unacceptable act of misappropriating customer funds.

Confusion over O’Leary's Defense for SBF

Due to O’Leary's statement on the show "If you're going to say he's guilty before SBF even tries, then I really can't understand," the guests on the show couldn't stand it and loudly told him, "You've lost $15 million and you say he's not guilty?"

CZ stated that what's worse than losing $15 million is O’Leary being used as a billboard to defend the largest financial crime in history.

Binance Abandoned Investment in FTX After Due Diligence: Threatened to Pay the Price

CZ stated that as early investors in FTX, they continued due diligence, unlike O’Leary. Because they felt increasingly uneasy about Alameda and SBF, they withdrew their investment a year and a half ago.

Binance Threatened to Pay the Price When Abandoning FTX: Unstable Status of SBF

CZ stated that when Binance abandoned the investment in FTX, SBF's status was very unstable. SBF even made aggressive remarks against several Binance members, even claiming that they would pay the price.

After Buying Politics, Media, and Celebrities, Attack on Binance Commenced

CZ stated that after SBF started political donations and investing in media and celebrities, they controlled public opinion through these networks and attacked him and industry professionals.

CZ believes that racial discrimination became the focus of the attack. In fact, he is Canadian, and Binance is not a Chinese company.

You Don't Need to Be Smart to See Something Wrong with FTX

CZ stated that FTX, which is only 1/10 the size of Binance, spends marketing and partnership costs 100 times that of Binance, holding luxurious parties in the Bahamas, traveling everywhere, and acquiring properties for employees. Also, Binance has registrations and licenses in many more countries than other exchanges, including FTX.

Before Witch-Hunting, Look in the Mirror

CZ believes that Kevin O’Leary is just witch-hunting for a culprit, so he should first examine SBF and himself.

SBF Responds: You Won, CZ, But No Need to Lie

SBF responded shortly after, believing that CZ didn't need to lie about the withdrawal of the investment. It was he who forced FTX to remove Binance from the shareholders by adding $75 million, as it was crucial for FTX's business.