Binance founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) has filed a motion to dismiss the $1.76 billion lawsuit from FTX. He insists that the U.S. Supreme Court lacks jurisdiction over the case, as Zhao himself is a resident of the United Arab Emirates and the disputed transactions took place outside the United States.
This is reported by Business • Media
Details of the Lawsuit and Defense Position
The FTX lawsuit pertains to a 2021 transaction when Binance sold its stake in FTX. According to the plaintiffs, customer funds were used to repurchase shares. Zhao’s attorneys have labeled these allegations as “absurd” and emphasized that all transactions were conducted through companies registered in Ireland, the Cayman Islands, and the British Virgin Islands. FTX notes that Binance USD digital assets and FTT tokens were involved in financing the agreements; however, the defense highlights that Zhao “was not the recipient” of these funds and acted only as a “nominal party.”
Allegations of Influence on the Exchange’s Collapse
Separately, the lawsuit addresses CZ’s posts on social media platform X in November 2022, when he announced the sale of FTT tokens. FTX believes these statements triggered a mass exodus of customers and led to the exchange’s collapse. However, Zhao contends that the reason for the collapse was the “fraudulent nature” of FTX itself, not his actions on social media.
“Even if Mr. Zhao’s social media posts contributed to the crisis, FTX had no right to exist from the start,” his attorneys stated.
The lawyers compared the claims against Zhao to blaming a whistleblower for the collapse of a financial pyramid. It is known that back in May 2025, Binance had already attempted to seek dismissal of a similar lawsuit, calling it “legally untenable.” FTX has also filed claims against former Binance executives Samuel Lim and Dinghua Xiao.
Previously, Zhao served four months in prison for money laundering, while former FTX head Sam Bankman-Fried is currently serving a 25-year sentence and preparing for an appeal.
It is worth noting that Zhao recently shared information regarding Coinbase’s involvement as an “anonymous source” for Bloomberg.