Changpeng Zhao

Binance Australia Derivatives admitted misclassifying 524 retail customers as wholesale customers between July 2022 and April 2023, depriving them of retail investor protections. The customers incurred more than A$12 million in losses and fees; approximately A$13.1 million was paid in compensation.

State of the evidence

Admitted by the person

Publication of Zhao's memoir, Freedom of Money, reignited a dispute with Star Xu, the head of OKX and Zhao's former boss at OKCoin. Xu accused him of lying and forging contracts and publicly questioned his divorce status and division of his Binance stake. Zhao responded by proposing a billion-dollar wager that he was officially divorced.

State of the evidence

Allegations

Attribution

Personally implicated

Users sued Binance and Zhao over losses involving several tokens they described as unregistered securities. After an initial dismissal and revival on appeal, the court ruled on 26 February 2026 that Binance could not impose arbitration or a class action waiver for claims arising before 20 February 2019, owing to inadequate notification and insufficiently clear clauses.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Accused

An action brought by 535 victims or relatives of victims of 64 terrorist attacks sought to hold Binance and Zhao liable on the grounds that transactions on the platform had benefited several terrorist organisations or affiliates. On 6 March 2026, Judge Jeannette Vargas dismissed the complaint because the allegations were insufficient to establish a legal connection between the defendants and the attacks.

Attribution

Accused

Nearly 1,700 British investors brought a High Court action in London against several Binance entities and Zhao, seeking at least £150 million. They allege that complex leveraged crypto derivatives were offered to them without adequate regulatory authorisation, resulting in substantial losses.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Accused

David Gonzalez sued Binance, Binance.US and Zhao following the theft of cryptoassets, alleging that some funds were transferred to a Binance.com account and then laundered, invoking, among other things, civil RICO. After personal jurisdiction issues in New Jersey, the court ordered transfer of the case in September 2026 to the Southern District of Florida, where it was reopened.

State of the evidence

Allegations

Attribution

Accused

The SEC sued Binance, Binance.US and Zhao in 2023, alleging, among other things, operation of unregistered trading platforms, offers of unregistered securities, weaknesses in controls against wash trading and alleged commingling of assets or functions.

The Paris prosecutor's office opened a judicial investigation into Binance over suspicions including aggravated money laundering, unauthorised business activity and tax fraud, concerning conduct spanning several years, including the period when Zhao still led the group.

State of the evidence

Documented

Reports indicated that representatives of the Trump family had discussed acquiring a stake in Binance.US while Zhao was seeking a pardon, and that Binance sought to reduce certain monitoring obligations resulting from its US settlement. Meanwhile, World Liberty Financial's USD1 stablecoin was used in MGX's $2 billion investment in Binance.

State of the evidence

Documented

On 7 May 2024, FINTRAC imposed an administrative penalty of C$6.002 million on Binance Holdings for failing to register as a foreign money services business and to report certain large virtual currency transactions. The compliance activity concerned 2023, when Zhao still led Binance until his departure in November.

State of the evidence

Documented

The FCA prohibited Binance Markets Limited from undertaking any regulated activity without written permission and warned consumers. It subsequently explained that the group could not be effectively supervised in the UK given its complexity and high-risk products.

State of the evidence

Documented

The CFTC sued Zhao and Binance in March 2023 for deliberately evading US derivatives regulations. In December, a federal court approved the settlement: the order found that Zhao and Binance had violated the Commodity Exchange Act, knowingly concealed the presence of US customers and facilitated the circumvention of compliance controls.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Personally implicated

Japan's Financial Services Agency warned Binance in March 2018 that it was operating a virtual currency exchange business without proper registration, then issued another warning in 2021 concerning unregistered services.

State of the evidence

Documented

After announcing its withdrawal from Ontario, Binance informed investors on 29 December 2021 that it could continue operating, a statement it subsequently acknowledged was incorrect. It had also claimed that trading restrictions were in place, although customers were still able to trade.

State of the evidence

Admitted by the person

De Nederlandsche Bank fined Binance Holdings €3.325 million for providing cryptocurrency services in the Netherlands without the legally required registration. DNB had already issued a public warning in August 2021.

State of the evidence

Documented

A Reuters investigation based on blockchain data, court records and industry sources estimated that at least $2.35 billion originating from hacks, fraud, drug sales or other illicit sources had passed through Binance over five years.

State of the evidence

Disputed

Reuters reported, based on Chainalysis data and company information, that approximately $8 billion had flowed since 2018 between Binance and Iranian entities, much of it through Nobitex, despite US sanctions against Iran.

State of the evidence

Documented

Zhao announced that Binance would liquidate its remaining FTT following 'recent revelations', putting heavy pressure on the token and accelerating FTX's liquidity crisis. Binance subsequently signed a non-binding letter of intent to acquire FTX before withdrawing after due diligence.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Direct responsibility

Although Binance was frequently described as established or 'based' in Malta, the Malta Financial Services Authority clarified in February 2020 that Binance was not authorised by it to operate in the regulated cryptocurrency sector and that its activities in Malta needed case-by-case assessment.

State of the evidence

Documented

Forbes published a document described as outlining a 'Tai Chi' strategy intended to divert US regulators' attention while preserving Binance's economic access to the American market. Zhao and Binance denied the account and brought a defamation action.

Attribution

Direct responsibility

Italy's Consob warned that Binance group companies were not authorised to provide investment services and activities in Italy, including through certain website sections covering derivatives and stock tokens.

State of the evidence

Documented

Binance acquired CoinMarketCap, one of the leading cryptocurrency data and ranking websites. The transaction immediately prompted questions about the neutrality of exchange rankings when the data provider's owner was itself one of the world's largest exchanges.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Direct responsibility

Sequoia Capital accused Zhao of breaching an exclusivity obligation by negotiating financing with IDG while investment discussions concerning Binance were ongoing. An injunction initially restricted Zhao's negotiations.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Personally implicated

During the dispute over Craig Wright's claim to be Satoshi Nakamoto, Zhao publicly called him a 'fraud', and Binance announced that it would delist Bitcoin SV. The decision prompted debate about major exchanges' power over competing cryptocurrency projects.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Direct responsibility

Hackers stole approximately 7,000 bitcoins from Binance. Zhao publicly raised the theoretical possibility of reorganising the Bitcoin blockchain to recover the funds, an idea immediately criticised within the ecosystem.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Direct responsibility

After leaving OKCoin, Zhao became involved in the dispute between the platform and Roger Ver over the Bitcoin.com domain contract. OKCoin and former officials made allegations concerning document authenticity and management of the agreement, to which Zhao publicly responded.

State of the evidence

Allegations