Crypto Exchange FTX Sues Binance and Changpeng Zhao

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Crypto Exchange FTX Sues Binance and Changpeng Zhao

The cryptocurrency sector started the week with a shocking development. The bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX has filed a lawsuit against Binance and the exchange's former CEO, Changpeng Zhao (CZ), claiming a fraudulent transfer of $1.8 billion. FTX alleges that these funds were fraudulently transferred by Sam Bankman-Fried under a share buyback agreement executed in July 2021.

Documents submitted by FTX indicate that in this transfer, a 20% stake from FTX’s international unit and an 18.4% stake from its U.S. unit were sold to Binance. The company argues that this transaction, carried out under Bankman-Fried's management, was unlawful and contributed to the exchange's collapse.

In addition to the share transfer, FTX claims that the transferred funds were in the form of FTT, BNB, and BUSD. The lawsuit also emphasizes that the financial condition of FTX and its affiliate Alameda Research has been weak since day one, and therefore, the share transfer transaction is fraudulent.

Alameda Research and a lawsuit against WAVES founder Ivanov FTX's affiliate Alameda Research has also filed a lawsuit against Aleksandr Ivanov, the founder of the WAVES Blockchain platform. Alameda claims that Ivanov embezzled approximately $90 million in assets through the DeFi platform Vires Finance. In March 2022, Alameda deposited stablecoins USDT and USDC into Vires, after which these assets were converted into the stable asset USDN of WAVES.

The allegations state that Ivanov conducted manipulative transactions to drive up the value of WAVES tokens. It is emphasized that the transactions encouraged users to withdraw their assets from the Waves system at a different value.

BNB falls after the latest development Following the lawsuit news from FTX, Binance Coin (BNB) lost approximately 2% in value in the market. BNB saw a slight increase in the last hour, currently trading at $622. FTX's new management has launched several lawsuits against former partners and investors regarding transactions conducted during the Bankman-Fried era.

In the past, FTX resolved a dispute with Bybit for $228 million and is now pursuing its funds through Binance and Ivanov. These lawsuits represent significant developments closely monitored in the cryptocurrency market.