Binance Sues Forbes Reporters For Defamation: Report

Binance sues two reporters from Forbes as well as compensatory and punitive damages after Forbes didn’t retract a story that the exchange saw as defamatory. Forbes published a story in October where it revealed the exchange’s strategy to evade regulations so now Binance struck back as we are reading more in today’s Binance news.

Binance sues the Forbes reporters calling elements of the story defamatory. The exchange demands punitive damages as well as the removal of the article. Binance is the leading crypto exchange in the world and now decided to sue Forbes and two of its writers for publishing a story in October that they believe is defamatory. According to the complaint filed in the US District Court in New Jersey, the article allegedly speaks about leader documents where It revealed that the exchange had an Elaborate Scheme to Evade BTC regulations. The exchange claims that the report contains false and misleading statements about the exchange.

The article was written by Michael Del Castillo a writer for Forbes and Jason Brett. The article relies on “a document thought to be created by a senior executive and believed to have been seen by senior Binance executives like Changpeng Zhao.” The so-called Tai Chi document was a plan to set up an American subsidiary Binance.US in order to distract regulators and to move the revenue in form of fees. According to the lawsuit, the statements are misleading that the exchange does not comply with applicable law and they want to evade regulators. Binance claims that they are not engaged in any activity of money laundering as it could bring a lot of damage to the reputation that was built over the years.

Binance maintained that they didn’t receive an apology from Forbes so they will be moving on with the lawsuit. The exchange demands compensatory and punitive damages and also for the article to be removed. An exchange spokesperson said:

 “We exercise and support freedom, including freedom of information and freedom of the press, as well as accountability. This suit is not a reflection against our core value and belief in freedom, but ensuring the truth and justice.”

Previously, the exchange CEO Changpeng Zhao wanted to sue The Block. One of the attorneys that filed the suit is Charles Harder who represented Hulk Hogan in his privacy invasion lawsuit against Gawker Media which got the wrestler a $31 million settlement. Forbes Chief Communications Officer Matthew Hutchison said on the matter:

“We stand by our reporting.”