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Legal Document Details | Binance Founder Changpeng Zhao Sues Bloomberg for Defamation: Interviewee Subjected to Defamation, Content Deliberately Distorted Facts

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Legal Document Details | Binance Founder Changpeng Zhao Sues Bloomberg for Defamation: Interviewee Subjected to Defamation, Content Deliberately Distorted Facts

In early July, Bloomberg Chinese used "Zhao Changpeng's Ponzi Scheme" as the cover headline for its 250th issue, promoting it on a large scale on its Facebook page, causing a stir in the community. Binance founder Zhao Changpeng filed a defamation lawsuit in a New York court on 7/25.

Sensationalized Chinese Title

The original English version of the cover story was published on 6/24 with the title "Can Crypto’s Richest Man Stand the Cold?", but Bloomberg Chinese published it with a more sensational title.

On July 6, Bloomberg Businessweek Chinese edition teased the cover story of issue 250 on their official Facebook page: "Zhao Changpeng's Ponzi Scheme," sparking discussions. The next day, they deleted the image and replaced it with "The Mysterious Zhao Changpeng," which was later removed altogether. Despite Hong Kong having the physical magazine with the "Zhao Changpeng's Ponzi Scheme" cover on shelves, Taiwan has not stocked that edition after the incident. Additional reading on 7/14: Bloomberg article compilation | Why did Bloomberg Chinese describe Binance as a Ponzi scheme?

Zhao Changpeng Files Defamation Lawsuit

Binance founder Zhao Changpeng has filed a defamation lawsuit in a New York court demanding a retraction and removal of the article from newsstands, along with an injunction to prohibit the dissemination of the content. Hong Kong's Chinese copyright distributor - Modern Media Holdings Modern Media, along with Bloomberg L.P. and Bloomberg Inc. in the United States, are named in the defamation lawsuit documents.

Legal Documents Reveal the Story

In March 2022, Bloomberg Businessweek invited Binance founder Zhao Changpeng CZ for an interview. CZ agreed to a phone and in-person interview. After the original article was published in June, CZ objected to the severe defamation against him in the article. Binance had not confirmed any of the information and believed it was deliberately designed to mislead readers, distorting facts to suggest Binance's involvement in illegal activities.

For example, the content deliberately linked Binance to descriptions of money laundering, fraud, and hacking activities, attempting to lead readers to believe that Binance was also involved. The article cited an anonymous trader who claimed their account was frozen by Binance and chose to remain anonymous, stating that Binance was a large garbage coin casino.

The documents also mentioned that the Chinese version deviated from the original title's meaning, containing exaggerated and unverified accusations:

In fact, as early as the publication date of 6/25, Zhao Changpeng had already protested to Bloomberg, stating that the interview only selected past negative news to write about, completely ignoring third-party positive evaluations, and the tone and direction of the interview were completely different from the initial approach, which was highly unprofessional.