According to reports on Dec. 9, Tether executives and Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao were concerned that Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), former FTX CEO, was attempting to disrupt the cryptocurrency market in order to save the now-defunct exchange, as reported by Cointelegraph.
According to Cointelegraph, the Wall Street Journal has obtained messages from a Signal group chat called “Exchange coordination” that show a dispute between CZ and SBF on November 10 over Tether’s stablecoin USDT.
The report claims that CZ and other members of the group were concerned that Alameda Research’s trades were concentrating on depegging the stablecoin, which would have a negative impact on cryptocurrency prices. The CEO of Binance reportedly challenged SBF, “Stop trying to depeg stablecoins. And stop doing anything. Stop now, don’t cause more damage.”
SBF responded to the WSJ with a denial of the allegations. Jesse Powell, a co-founder of Kraken, and Paolo Ardoino, the chief technology officer of Tether, among others, are members of the Signal group.
The alleged altercation allegedly took place the day after Binance announced it wouldn’t help troubled rival FTX, citing “reports regarding mishandled customer funds and alleged US agency investigations.” On November 10, Ardoino added that Tether has no “plans to invest in or lend money to FTX/Alameda.”
(With insights from Cointelegraph)
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