Binance Founder Discusses Forbes and Twitter Investment Cases: Still Hopes for Smooth Completion; Reflects on Forbes Chairman's Comments on Bitcoin

In February of this year, Binance made a $200 million strategic investment in Forbes and became one of its largest shareholders. However, with Forbes abandoning its SPAC listing plans, the investment from Binance fell through. Nevertheless, Binance's founder, Changpeng Zhao, stated that Binance still hopes to invest in Forbes, although there may be changes in the terms of the deal. Looking back at Forbes' chairman's previous criticisms of Bitcoin, we also found that CZ has deleted his previous tweets refuting Steve Forbes.

Termination of SPAC Listing Plan

According to reports in February of this year, if the transaction proceeds smoothly, Binance will become one of Forbes' two major shareholders, obtaining two seats on the board of nine directors. Forbes is expected to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange with the stock code "FRBS."

At that time, CZ also emphasized the independence of Forbes' editorial team and stated that the investment was to assist Forbes in transitioning from a typical Web 1.0 company to Web 3.0 through blockchain and cryptocurrency.

However, according to SEC documents, Forbes terminated its merger with Magnum Opus OPA on 6/1, with OPA claiming to continue pursuing a business combination with an appropriate target.

Binance Responds to Forbes and Twitter Investment Case

Binance founder Zhao Changpeng CZ reiterated in an interview with Bloomberg that Binance still hopes to make the investment, but there have been some changes in the terms of the transaction, and believes that everything is still in the discussion stage.

Binance had previously invested approximately $500 million in Elon Musk's Twitter acquisition case, but this investment has also stalled due to the inability of Musk and Twitter officials to reach a consensus on the authenticity of fake accounts and spam messages. CZ stated:

I don't know what happened with the Twitter deal. We still hope it can go through. Honestly, not being able to complete the acquisition is a bit disappointing for us. We wanted to contribute to Twitter in some way.

Steve Forbes on Bitcoin

It is worth noting that Steve Forbes, Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of Forbes, has stated in an interview that Bitcoin cannot achieve widespread adoption, and the development and practicality of stablecoins will surpass the speculative nature of digital assets in the future. He also raised the point that the idea of a limited supply of Bitcoin is a misconception:

Currency itself should be a tool to promote business and economic development, rather than control the economy and restrict the development of business and trade through scarcity. The increase in Bitcoin adoption rates in countries like Syria, Lebanon, and Venezuela is due to the failed economic structures under local government systems, not because of Bitcoin itself.

Last year, Steve Forbes published a long article titled "Bitcoin Is Not Money—Yet," criticizing the volatility and user experience as weaknesses, and once again mentioned the argument about the total supply limit:

From 1775 to 1900, when the U.S. transitioned from a simple agricultural economy to an industrial powerhouse, the supply of the U.S. dollar increased by 160 times. Cryptocurrencies must be as easy to use as fiat currencies, have stable value, and be linked to assets such as gold and the franc. If they cannot meet these two conditions, they cannot become substitutes for fiat currencies.

At that time, both CZ and MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor refuted Steve Forbes' claims, but CZ's tweet has been deleted.