Binance and its former CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao have filed a motion asking a Delaware bankruptcy judge to dismiss the $1.76 billion lawsuit filed by the FTX estate.

The lawsuit, which seeks to claw back funds from a 2021 equity repurchase deal, is being dismissed by Binance as “legally deficient” and “unsupported by factual evidence.”

Binance Has No Role in FTX’s Collapse

In its court filing, Binance claims it played no part in the collapse of FTX. Instead, it points the finger squarely at FTX’s former leadership, citing “internal mismanagement and fraud” led by Sam Bankman-Fried—now convicted and serving a 25-year sentence for fraud and conspiracy.

Binance accuses the FTX estate of trying to deflect blame from its own failures by targeting competitors. The exchange insists there is no credible evidence linking its executives, including CZ, to the collapse of FTX. The lawsuit, Binance claims, is a baseless attempt to rewrite history and obscure FTX’s own massive corporate fraud.

At the center of the legal dispute is a July 2021 transaction in which FTX repurchased Binance’s equity stake for $1.76 billion in crypto assets. Binance had previously acquired a 20% equity share in FTX back in 2019. The buyback was paid in a combination of BNB, BUSD, and FTT tokens.

The FTX estate claims those funds came from misappropriated customer deposits while the exchange was already insolvent. Binance, however, disputes this, noting that FTX continued operations for another 16 months after the deal—undermining any claim of insolvency at the time of the transaction.

Binance also states that it had no knowledge of the source of funds used by FTX and characterizes the deal as a routine, lawful equity buyback.

CZ 's Malicious Tweets

The lawsuit further alleges that Changpeng Zhao intentionally sparked panic among FTX users by tweeting on November 6, 2022, that Binance would liquidate its FTT holdings. This, according to FTX, helped trigger a wave of customer withdrawals that ultimately pushed the exchange into collapse.

Binance rejects this claim, saying Zhao’s post was a response to a CoinDesk article that exposed alarming financial details about Alameda Research, FTX’s sister firm. Binance contends the tweet reflected a legitimate business concern, not a coordinated effort to destroy FTX.

The company dismisses any allegations of malicious intent as “pure conjecture,” arguing that the claims rely heavily on hindsight and the testimony of a now-convicted fraudster.

Binance Questions The Jurisdiction

Binance also argues the Delaware court lacks personal jurisdiction over the case, pointing out that none of the corporate defendants are based in the U.S. and that they were not directly involved in the disputed transfers.

Additionally, Binance invokes the “safe harbor” provision of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code, asserting that the equity repurchase qualifies as a securities contract. Under this clause, such transactions are protected from clawback attempts during bankruptcy proceedings.