Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) has dispelled rumours of the crypto exchange having ties to the Chinese government. According to a recent Binance blog post, claims that the firm is a criminal entity being used covertly by the Chinese are merely conspiracy theories.
The blog post was inspired by a recent Twitter back-and-forth session between CZ and a former Washington Post journalist who asked questions relating to Guangying Chen. However, Zhao seized the opportunity to finally put to bed rumours that has been left to fester for too long.
Binance CEO Sets the Records Straight
In the post, CZ admits that Chen is a personal friend who also happens to be a Chinese national. But for the conspiracy theorists, there was more to the relationship than just being friends and mere colleagues, he added. CZ says it is believed in some quarters that Guangying Chen is the real owner of Bijie Tech. That is a firm that he founded in 2015. He added that the wild allegations also continue with claims that Chen possibly owns Binance as well. But Zhao insists Zhao claims that the theories were first circulated by an old competitor.
Setting the records straight, however, the Binance CEO says he only hired Chen back at Bijie Tech to “manage the back office.” But the collaboration didn’t end there. CZ later re-hired Chen at Binance, adding more fuel to the conspiracy fire.
About Binance’s ties to the Chinese government, CZ has also strongly denied those as well. According to him, there is no justification for these kinds of accusations. This is especially considering the troubles that Binance ran into in the past with Chinese authorities, which were all public.
The dilemma that the exchange faces now, according to Zhao is that the firm is not permitted to operate in China, and in the west, it’s also being painted as a Chinese-owned company.
However, CZ believes that all the accusing fingers stem from the fact that he and a few other Binance employees are of Chinese extract. And for this, he wrote:
“Binance is an easy target for special interests, media, and even policymakers that hate our industry.”
Binance officially became a corporate entity in the Cayman Islands in 2017 but currently has no official headquarters.
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