Senator Elizabeth Warren fires back at CZ over defamation claims
After Binance founder Changpeng Zhao threatened Senator Elizabeth Warren with a defamation lawsuit, her legal team doubled down.
- Senator Elizabeth Warren’s lawyers fired back against the Binance founder
- Changpeng Zhao threatened the Senator with a defamation lawsuit
- Warren’s legal team doubled down, pointing out that CZ pleaded guilty to facilitating money laundering
The crypto industry once again finds itself tied to the increasing divide in U.S. politics. Following Zhao’s unexpected pardon by U.S. President Donald Trump, prominent Democrat politicians are doubling down on their attacks.
On Sunday, November 2, Warren’s legal team dismissed Zhao’s defamation claim. The response comes after CZ’s lawyers sent a demand letter on October 28, objecting to Warren’s X post about his pardon. “CZ pleaded guilty to a criminal money laundering charge and was sentenced to prison,” Warren stated in the post.
Warren has doubled down on her post, stating that Zhao pleaded guilty to money laundering. The court sentenced him to prison, after which Trump pardoned him. As the statements are true, Warren’s lawyers point out, they cannot be defamatory.
“Senator Warren’s post is true in all respects and therefore cannot be defamatory,” wrote Elias Law Group, the firm representing Warren. “All of this is public record, and is plainly what Senator Warren’s X post concerned.”
Trump claims he doesn’t know who CZ is
Zhao pleaded guilty on November 21, 2023, to charges that involved a failure to maintain an effective anti-money laundering program as the CEO of Binance. Binance was also forced to pay $4.3 billion to U.S. authorities, while CZ had to step down as CEO.
Since the legal exchange, Trump addressed his pardon of Zhao. He claimed that he did not know who he was, but was told by others that CZ was targeted during a “witch hunt” under the Biden administration.
Trump’s claims raised eyebrows due to Binance’s involvement with his crypto businesses. Notably, according to the WSJ, Binance engineers built the core infrastructure for World Liberty Financial’s USD1 stablecoin and helped create demand for it. Namely, Binance requested that the UAE’s sovereign wealth fund make its $2 billion investment in Binance in USD1, which sent USD1’s market cap soaring.
Disclaimer: The content of this article solely reflects the author's opinion and does not represent the platform in any capacity. This article is not intended to serve as a reference for making investment decisions.
You may also like
The AI boom may follow the path of the 19th-century railway bubble, and builders may not be the ultimate winners
Goldman Sachs analyst Bobby Molavi compared the current situation to the 19th-century British railway mania: 500 companies spent more than the nation's annual income building 8,000 miles of railway, with most early investors losing out, while the real beneficiaries were the later "passengers." He pointed out that the current AI craze is driven by both debt and momentum, and that the S&P 500’s forward P/E ratio of 18x is only "a bit cheaper." Whether the builders can retain value is uncertain, and history does not offer an optimistic answer.
If Anthropic's IPO goes smoothly and the stock price rises next week, then everything remains the same for AI. Otherwise, some companies will go bankrupt.
The shrinking valuations of two major giants have triggered a chain reaction—investors are adopting more conservative revenue multiples for AI startups and are directly halting high-valuation financing for companies with zero revenue. Multiple venture capital firms have advised their portfolio companies to lower valuation expectations and to quickly build up cash reserves. Market participants warn that the outcome of Anthropic’s IPO will be a barometer for the industry: if successful, the boom will continue; if it fails, some companies may face elimination.
After the Brazilian election, political discount deepens; Morgan Stanley remains bullish on Petrobras (PBR.US), focusing on fuel pricing and dividends
Morgan Stanley still maintains its most optimistic "Overweight" rating, but has lowered its year-end 2027 target price from $31 to $25.
Corning (GLW.US) receives initial "Buy" rating from Jefferies! AI factories driving a fiber optic rush, with a potential global supply gap of up to 30%
For Corning, the recent profit growth mainly comes from the expansion of AI clusters. As the number of optical links crossing cabinets and campuses increases, customers need to deploy more optical fibers within limited conduit and cabinet space, thus driving demand for high-density optical cables and connection systems.
Crypto prices
More
