Changpeng Zhao denies WSJ’s claims linking him to WLFI

Binance co-founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) has publicly denied claims linking him to World Liberty Financial. The former Binance CEO took to blogging platform X to call out a recent article linking him to Trump-linked entities, particularly WLFI, regarding a stake in Binance US.

In the post on X, Zhao mentioned that the WSJ article was filled with inaccuracies, calling it a “hit piece” filled with negative assumptions. The WSJ article portrayed his involvement in the decentralized finance project, one which he has criticized. The platform is backed by a business entity that has affiliations with United States President Donald Trump. Trump’s sons, Eric and Donald Jr. are actively involved in managing the company.

According to Zhao, the article emphasized his role as a “fixer” for the WLFI team and its co-founder Zach Witkoff during foreign trips. The article also suggested that Zhao carried out introductions and meetings for WLFI leaders during foreign trips, including a recent visit to Pakistan that reportedly resulted in a memorandum of understanding with a local official.

Changpeng Zhao slams WSJ’s “hit piece”

In his post on X, Zhao mentioned that he was not a fixer for anyone, denying the claims that he connected Pakistani officials Mr. Saqib with anyone from WLFI or organized any engagements abroad. “They had known each other way back, whereas I only met with Mr. Saqib for the first time in Pakistan,” he added. He also added that the WSJ submitted a list of questions that he described as wrong and negative assumptions.

Another hit piece from Wall Street Journal. WSJ instead of doing journalism, has pretty much resorted to Cunningham’s Law, with negative intentions.

"Cunningham's Law: The best way to get the right answer on the Internet is not to ask a question; it's to post the wrong answer."…

— CZ 🔶 BNB (@cz_binance) May 23, 2025

Zhao and his public relations team have since pointed out several factual inaccuracies, concluding that the article was created with malicious intent. He also slammed WSJ, noting that it is acting as the mouthpiece for anti-crypto forces in the United States. He added that forces behind the publication want to hinder the push for the country to be the crypto capital of the world.

“They want to attack crypto, global crypto leaders, and the pro-crypto administration,” CZ claimed, saying the article is part of a broader effort to stifle the industry’s growth in the US. This is not the first time that Zhao has slammed WSJ for what he describes as inaccurate reporting, with the former Binance CEO slamming its April 11 report where it said Zhao had agreed to testify against Tron founder Justin Sun.

The report added that the measure was a means to settle with US prosecutors, but Zhao slammed it, noting that government witnesses are always protected and don’t go to jail. He also added that someone within WSJ had received money to smear his name.

WSJ report calls out CZ’s role in WLFI

CZ’s response comes after a WSJ investigation, where the news outlet highlighted a string of diplomatic and business interests involving WLFI. The WSJ report had raised concerning questions about the blurred lines between public and private interests, focusing on diplomatic and business dealings involving WLFI co-founders Steve Witkoff and his son Zach Witkoff.

Steve Witkoff currently serves as the United States Special Envoy to the Middle East under the Trump administration, while Zach Witkoff has been involved in some capacity at the company, including securing a $2 billion crypto deal. The report raised questions about whether diplomatic efforts are clashing with private crypto ventures, implying that Zhao may have been trying to gain favors in the sight of the Trump administration. The Binance man confirmed on May 6 that he was seeking pardon from the Trump administration concerning his earlier money laundering conviction.

The report also mentioned that WLFI, which had raised over $600 million in token sales, has refused to disclose the names of all its investors aside from some publicly known entities like Tron founder Justin Sun, who was in attendance at the Trump meme coin dinner on May 22. The president hosted the dinner for the largest investors in his Official Trump (TRUMP) meme coin. The event was graced by Sun, Magic Eden CEO Jack Lu, and BitMart CEO Sheldon Xia, among others.

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