Binance Fires Back: Moves to Dismiss FTX Lawsuit in Latest Crypto Clash

Another day, another courtroom drama in crypto-land—this time with Binance throwing the first legal punch.

Subheader: The gloves are off

Binance isn’t just disputing FTX’s claims—it’s seeking total dismissal, calling the lawsuit ’baseless’ in a 25-page motion that reads like a blockchain thriller. Legal teams are burning midnight oil while traders place bets on the outcome (because of course they are).

Subheader: Regulatory deja vu

The filing comes as no surprise to industry watchers—exchange lawsuits have become as predictable as Bitcoin halvings, just with higher stakes and better lawyer Twitter threads.

Closing jab: Meanwhile, somewhere in the Bahamas, a certain former CEO probably wishes he’d spent more on compliance and less on beachfront property.

In brief

• Binance asks an American judge to dismiss the $1.76 billion lawsuit filed by FTX concerning a 2021 share buyback.
• The platform claims that the collapse of FTX resulted from massive fraud orchestrated by its own executives.
• Binance argues that the court has no authority over its foreign entities and that its 2022 tweets were neither false nor misleading.

Binance fights back and rejects all responsibility

The world’s leading crypto exchange formally requested last Friday that a Delaware judge dismiss the lawsuit filed by FTX. In its motion, Binance states that there is no connection between its actions or those of its former CEO Changpeng Zhao and the fall of FTX.

“FTX is trying to deny that its collapse is due to one of the biggest corporate frauds in history“, clearly asserts Binance in its legal document.

Recall that Sam Bankman-Fried, the former head of FTX, is currently serving 25 years in prison for embezzling billions belonging to his clients and investors.

At the heart of the conflict is a colossal sum: $1.76 billion in cryptocurrencies. FTX had transferred this amount to Binance in 2021 to buy back its own shares.

Indeed, Binance had acquired 20% of FTX in 2019, shares that FTX later recovered by paying with various tokens (BNB, BUSD, and FTT).

FTX’s liquidators claim that the company was already bankrupt at the time of this 2021 transaction, and that executives illegally used client money to finance this buyback.

Binance categorically rejects this argument by pointing out a simple fact: FTX continued to operate normally for 16 months after this operation, which contradicts the idea of insolvency at that time.

The tweet war and the jurisdiction question

Changpeng Zhao’s tweets also play a key role in this case. FTX accuses Binance’s ex-boss of deliberately causing panic by announcing on Twitter, on November 6, 2022, that Binance WOULD sell all its FTT tokens.

Binance defended itself by recalling an important fact: “These tweets were published just after an explosive CoinDesk article that had already revealed FTX’s problems“.

The company emphasizes that FTX has provided no evidence that these messages contained false information.

Binance also puts forward a strong legal argument: the American court would not have the authority to judge this case. Why? Because none of the accused are in the United States and they did not directly participate in the disputed money transfers.

This legal dispute arises at a time when FTX is finally preparing the repayment of its largest creditors, scheduled for May 30, 2025. A development that brings some hope to many investors who lost fortunes in what remains one of the largest bankruptcies in the crypto world.

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