- Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao tweeted about Kevin O’Leary’s shift from hating crypto to advocating it.
- Kevin O’Leary defends his pivot by saying that he was an investor in crypto due to the changing regulatory landscape.
- CZ, however, calls ex-FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried a “fraudster” and calls out Mr. Wonderful for defending him.
The fallout from FTX has been extremely painful for many investors, but the recent appearance of Canadian businessman Kevin O’Leary on CNBC seems to have caused Binance CEO to take a stand. In his tweets, Changpeng Zhao (CZ) explains how FTX’s compensation not only caused O’Leary to change his thoughts about crypto but also defend FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF)
Binance vs. remainder of FTX
Binance CEO CZ tweeted on December 9 that $15 million” was enough for Kevin O’Leary to change his mind about crypto from calling it a “garbage.” He adds that the ambassadorship with the now-defunct FTX exchange has also caused O’Leary to support a “fraudster.”
In his talk at CNBC Kevin O’Leary mentions that his major concern in 2017 was lack of regulation. He added that there was a massive interest from institutions for FTX US. The canadian businessman aka Mr. Wonderfull further clarifieed that,
Not a single dollar that I lost was anybody else’s money but mine. That was important to me
He further adds that FTX paid him $15 million dollars for being a paid spokesperson for FTX.
Continuing his rant, Binance CEO adds,
Worse than losing $15M, you’d think that being used as the poster child for one of the greatest financial crimes in history would make @kevinolearytv think twice before taking Sam at his word AGAIN. But clearly not, based on his appearance on.
While it is clear that FTX and Binance were competing with each other, Changpeng Zhao reveals that FTX used friends in “high places” to manipulate public opinion and attack Binance and other people in the industry.