FTX, the once-dominant crypto exchange now grappling with bankruptcy, has launched a new lawsuit against Binance and its former CEO Changpeng Zhao, known as “CZ,” over a contested $1.8 billion transfer. The legal dispute zeroes in on Binance’s exit from FTX’s ownership in 2021, when FTX’s Alameda Research allegedly funded the buyout using tokens valued at $1.76 billion—a figure administrators argue was unjustified given Alameda’s financial troubles.
The legal filing, submitted in Delaware, claims that the Alameda-led share repurchase was beyond the company’s means and that creditors were unfairly shortchanged. The administrators for FTX are pushing to reclaim the funds, along with damages, arguing that the alleged “fraudulent transfer” deprived FTX creditors of assets owed to them.
Binance swiftly rebuffed the claims, labeling them as “meritless.” Zhao has yet to respond publicly, but the lawsuit further intensifies the long-running friction between FTX and Binance. FTX’s dramatic fall unfolded in late 2022 when Binance initially pledged support, only to back out, sending shockwaves across the crypto world. Since then, FTX’s founder Sam Bankman-Fried has faced sentencing, and Zhao himself has confronted penalties over separate regulatory issues.
This lawsuit marks another intense chapter in the story of two crypto giants whose paths have diverged in starkly different directions.
