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Binance founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao has launched a fierce public rebuttal against The New York Times, accusing the publication of manufacturing Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt (FUD) by insinuating a significant personal or business connection between him and Tianying “Sky” He, an attendee of the recent Washington D.C. dinner promoting pro-Trump meme coins.
The dispute erupted today as CZ shared private reporter inquiries on his X account, vehemently denying any substantive ties to Sky He or his project, LuckyFuture, while ridiculing the basis of the New York Times’ questions.
“FUD in the Making”
According to Zhao, the full NY Times inquiry explicitly asked: “Does Tianying He have any personal or family connection with CZ or He Ye? And does Tianying He’s company, LuckyFuture, have any connection with Binance?”
The reporter noted that Sky He features a photo with Zhao on his X profile, interacts with him online, and occasionally refers to him as “大表哥” (dà biǎogé), translated as “big cousin.”
CZ framed these questions as baseless and built on negative assumptions due to a lack of evidence, pointedly asking:
“How desperate do you have to be to make up the story above? Or are you being paid to smear?”
The ex-Binance CEO sarcastically invited his followers to “see FUD in the making,” before systematically dismantling the implied connections. He clarified that he only followed Sky after seeing the Trump dinner attendee’s post featuring a BNB Chain logo from May 2024, stressing that he hadn’t known him before then.
Furthermore, CZ stated that he only became aware of Sky’s project, LuckyFuture, after he himself made a public post about perpetual decentralized exchanges, prompting Sky to reach out.
The 48-year-old also denied ever discussing Trump or U.S. matters with Sky. He explained that the “big cousin” reference was nothing more than a common term of respect and informal closeness within the vast Chinese-speaking crypto community, not a literal familial claim, humorously noting he took “600 selfies in one day in Token Dubai alone,” with many in those communities using the nickname.
A Pattern of Combating “Negative” Reporting
This latest pushback comes just weeks after Zhao went toe-to-toe with the Wall Street Journal over claims that he acted as a “fixer” for Donald Trump’s World Liberty Financial (WLF) in arranging overseas government meetings.
Before that, the same outlet published a story alleging the crypto entrepreneur had held talks with representatives of the Trump family over the possibility of their investing in Binance.US. The WSJ report linked this to his pursuit of a presidential pardon following a guilty plea for violating U.S. anti-money laundering laws, which saw him imprisoned for four months and barred from managing Binance.
Following those reports, CZ confirmed on May 8, 2025, that he had formally applied for clemency from President Trump through his legal team, citing the head of state’s pardon of BitMEX founders (who also pleaded guilty to Bank Secrecy Act violations) as precedent.
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