Amidst Binance’s ups and downs in the crypto market, the exchange’s recent donation to prominent crypto investigator ZachXBT has sparked controversy within the crypto community. Last Friday, ZachXBT was sued by Jeffrey Huang, also known as MachiBigBrother, in a defamation case.
After the lawsuit, ZachXBT revealed that fighting the case could cost over $1 million. He then appealed to his followers to donate funds to a dedicated wallet for his legal expenses. So far, the wallet has received over $1 million in donations, including a contribution from Binance.
However, the crypto community has engaged in a heated debate regarding Binance’s financial support for ZachXBT.
Binance’s Donation and Its Impact
In a controversial twist, Binance provided $50,000 to ZachXBT shortly after Machi transferred his Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) non-fungible tokens (NFTs) to the exchange. This move was interpreted as a show of solidarity for Binance, which is currently facing legal challenges from the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
The sequence of events gained significant attention on Twitter, with the crypto community member CirrusNFT highlighting the ironic connection in a tweet:
Machi sent all his BAYC to Binance to support them in their SEC case a few days ago and then a few days later CZ sends $50k to Zach to support him in the Machi case
— Cirrus (@CirrusNFT) June 17, 2023
This tweet drew attention to the unexpected overlap of activities involving entities engaged in separate legal disputes. It led some to speculate that CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) may be playing both sides.
Clarification and Community Response
Although CZ’s support for ZachXBT may appear biased, Binance’s CEO clarified his position. Addressing the issue on Twitter, CZ emphasized that his support for ZachXBT should not be seen as taking sides in the ongoing litigation between ZachXBT and Machi. Instead, he expressed his backing for ZachXBT based on his significant contributions to the industry.
Not taking sides. Just supporting a guy (who did a lot of work for the industry) for his legal fees. The court will decide.
Moving NFTs to Binance to show support is appreciated. No conflict.
— CZ Binance (@cz_binance) June 19, 2023
It’s worth noting that Binance’s donation to ZachXBT is just one aspect of the overwhelming support shown by the crypto community. Crypto enthusiasts have collectively donated over $1 million to ZachXBT in response to the defamation lawsuit.
Meanwhile, despite Binance’s ongoing SEC lawsuit, its native token BNB has risen nearly 5% in the past week. As of now, BNB is trading at $243, experiencing a 1.2% decrease in the last 24 hours.
Featured image from Unsplash, Chart from TradingView
