Changpeng Zhao has denied a report claiming he met with investors in Abu Dhabi in an effort to raise cash for the company’s crypto recovery fund.
CZ and others affiliated with Binance discussed raising cash for its proposed fund, aimed at helping projects with potential liquidity issues. Zhao and the Binance team reportedly met with potential backers associated with United Arab Emirates National Security Adviser Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed, while a Binance spokesperson said the meetings were focused on general global regulatory matters. CZ pushed back against the report on Twitter, saying simply that it was false.
CZ first announced the fund following FTX’s liquidity crunch and bankruptcy filing. It’s unclear how large the crypto exchange intended the fund to be. FTX’s bankruptcy filings suggested the firm owed more than $3 billion, while it had slightly more than $1.2 billion in cash as of Nov. 20. However, CZ added on Twitter that the fund was never intended for liars or frauds.
CZ became entangled in the FTX debacle after announcing that the exchange planned to liquidate its supply of FTX Token and discussing a possible bailout at the request of then CEO Sam Bankman-Fried. Binance pulled out of the potential deal less than 48 hours later, FTX filed for bankruptcy, and Bankman-Fried resigned.
