Grace Owell
Changpeng Zhao, the CEO of Binance, has debunked the widespread rumors that the FBI shot him on the Chinese social media platform WeChat.
Zhao calls the rumors false news, saying he is “working closely” with the FBI.
WeChat users spread the allegations using a modified photograph of the New York Times Chinese branch from a Twitter account. Zhao called the charges a fabrication and emphasized that they were in frequent contact with the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
According to Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ), the claims that he was shot by FBI agents were substantially exaggerated.
Someone photoshoped this, and it got spread widely on WeChat in china. It says I got shot by the FBI, whom our team work with closely… 🤷♂️ 4. pic.twitter.com/2Iz7c1QgA8
— CZ 🔶 Binance (@cz_binance) March 3, 2023
A bogus narrative claiming that CZ had been shot by the American Federal Bureau of Investigation was included in a photoshopped photograph of the Twitter feed of the Chinese subsidiary of The New York Times that CZ tweeted. WeChat, a popular Chinese social media platform, had been spreading the false report.
CZ has having a difficult time so far in 2023, despite making the resolution to “Ignore FUD, fake news, attacks, etc.” as one of his New Year’s resolutions. CZ responded lightly to the odd allegation that he had been shot by US law enforcement, adding that the Binance team collaborates closely with the FBI and punctuating his statement with a “shrug” emoji.
Crypto followers have flooded the comment section to defend Zhao against the fake news. One user by the handle @sniko_ has claimed that these rumors are attempts at market manipulation. He also noted the similarity of this hoax with the 2017 rumors that Buterin, the founder of Ethereum, had died in a fatal car crash.
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