Changpeng Zhao (CZ), the founder of Binance, has announced plans to file a defamation lawsuit against U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren if she does not retract what he describes as “false statements” about his legal history.
The dispute stems from Warren’s October 23, 2025, X post criticizing President Donald Trump’s recent pardon of CZ, in which she claimed he “pleaded guilty to a criminal money laundering charge.”
CZ’s legal team, led by attorney Teresa Goody Guillen, argues this is inaccurate, as CZ pleaded guilty in 2023 to a single violation of the Bank Secrecy Act failing to maintain an effective anti-money laundering program at Binance and served a four-month prison sentence as part of a $4.3 billion settlement with U.S. authorities.
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No money laundering charges were ever filed against him personally. In a draft demand letter obtained by the New York Post, Guillen states: “Zhao will not remain silent while a United States Senator misuses the office to publish defamatory statements.”
CZ confirmed the threat on X on October 28, 2025, echoing reports from outlets like Watcher.Guru. The lawsuit, if filed, would be “imminent” without a public retraction and could test the boundaries of senatorial immunity under the Speech or Debate Clause, requiring proof of “actual malice” for defamation against public figures.
Legal experts note such cases are rare and challenging, but this one highlights escalating tensions between crypto leaders and Warren, a vocal critic of the industry. CZ has accused Warren and others like former SEC Chair Gary Gensler of political bias, linking them to support for FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried.
The pardon, granted amid Trump’s pro-crypto stance, has fueled partisan divides, with Democrats like Warren, Adam Schiff, and Jeff Merkley urging Senate condemnation. Crypto advocates on X, including users like Linton Worm have rallied behind CZ with posts like “TRUTH ALWAYS WINS.”
BitMine Purchases Another $113M Worth of ETH
BitMine Immersion Technologies, a crypto treasury firm chaired by Fundstrat co-founder Tom Lee, has added 27,316 ETH valued at approximately $113 million at current prices to its holdings, according to on-chain data from Lookonchain and Arkham Intelligence.
The purchase was executed via custodian BitGo on October 28, 2025, bringing BitMine’s total ETH stash to 3.34 million tokens—worth about $13.3 billion and representing roughly 2.8% of Ethereum’s circulating supply. This marks another aggressive accumulation for BitMine, which aims to hold 5% of all ETH in circulation around 6.04 million tokens.
The firm, backed by investors like Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest, Galaxy Digital, and Pantera Capital, now boasts the world’s largest corporate ETH treasury and the second-largest overall crypto treasury behind Michael Saylor’s Strategy, with over 640,000 BTC.
BitMine’s broader portfolio totals $14.2 billion, including 192 BTC, $305 million in cash, and an $88 million stake in Eightco Holdings. ETH was acquired at an average price of $4,164 per token. Lee, a longtime Ethereum bull, views the asset as a “neutral chain” ideal for institutional adoption, especially amid recent upgrades like the Fusaka hard fork now testing on the Hoodi testnet for enhanced scalability.
He attributes the buying spree to improving macro conditions, such as U.S.-China trade progress and positive technicals (e.g., ETH’s RSI at 62 and a bull flag pattern targeting $4,200). Despite a 2.36% dip in the last 24 hours, ETH trades around $4,000, buoyed by $380 million in spot ETF inflows—outpacing Bitcoin ETFs.
On X, the move sparked bullish chatter, with @lookonchain highlighting the stack and @VirtualBacon0x noting it as a top event amid broader market resilience like BTC holding $112K support. This purchase follows BitMine’s earlier $1.5 billion ETH haul last weekend, signaling sustained institutional confidence in Ethereum’s role in DeFi and programmable finance.