SBF Loved to Spread Rumors Regarding Binance CEO Prior to FTX Implosion

The Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) of world’s leading blockchain and cryptocurrency infrastructure provider, Binance, Patrick Hilmann, claimed that Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), the founder and ex-CEO of the now-defunct exchange FTX, frequently criticized Binance’s CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) prior to FTX’s demise, a practise Hilmann referred to as “shading.” 

SBF Enjoyed Spreading Rumors About the Binance CEO

Hilmann revealed in a latest tweet that SBF enjoyed fabricating stories about the Binance co-founder and frequently referred to him as an “evil Chinese.”

A great read by @WilliamCohan at @PuckNews. One thing they missed, Sam was CONSTANTLY spreading fake rumors about @cz_binance, because shading him as an "evil Chinese" was critical to his scam. You can't pretend to be Luke Skywalker without Darth Vader.https://t.co/oi9JxsqPyz

— Patrick Hillmann (@PRHillmann) April 20, 2023

Binance CEO Got Wind of SBF’s Comments

The Binance CSO’s tweet presented an article by experienced business journalist William Cohan in which American financier Anthony Scaramucci, the creator of SkyBridge Capital, spoke about the status of his connection with SBF before FTX’s downfall.

Scaramucci said that amongst a number of other things during the days prior to the FTX demise, he traveled to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with SBF on a $1 billion fundraising trip.

“He was lighting CZ up. And these are small towns. They look glitzy from a travel brochure, but trust me, these are small, very connected, interconnected towns. It got back to CZ,” said Scaramucci, popularly referred to as “The Mooch.”

CZ was Pushed to Sell FTT Tokens

The Mooch also mentioned that SBF’s actions were concerning since politeness was expected in the business sector. Additionally, the Binance boss was able to quickly hear about the degrading statements. 

Scaramucci said that CZ’s announcement that Binance would sell its $500 million stake in FTX’s native token, FTT, must have been prompted by SBF’s comments. 

CZ vs SBF

In December of last year, ex-CEO SBF and Binance CEO CZ engaged in a Twitter fight about the validity of their respective private business operations. 

Bankman-Fried pressed CZ, asking why the latter was “lying” about FTX’s situation even after the exchange’s insolvency. According to SBF, Zhao had already “won.” However, CZ asserted that Binance began separating from SBF and Alameda because of ethical issues.