Binance has filed a motion in U.S. Bankruptcy Court to dismiss a US$1.76 billion lawsuit brought by the FTX estate, arguing the claims are legally baseless and an attempt to shift blame for FTX’s collapse.
In the filing submitted on 16 May 2025, three Binance entities—Binance Holdings Limited, Binance Holdings (IE) Limited, and Binance (Services) Holdings Limited—argue that the court lacks jurisdiction over them and that they were not involved in the transactions at the center of the lawsuit.
FTX is seeking to recover cryptocurrency it used to repurchase equity from Binance and certain former executives in July 2021.
The Binance entities say they were not parties to those agreements and did not receive the transfers, which were made to Binance Capital Management Co. Ltd. and individual executives, both of whom are separately represented and not included in this motion.
The lawsuit also targets a series of tweets posted in November 2022 by Binance founder Changpeng Zhao and the @binance account, which FTX claims helped trigger a run on customer funds and hastened its collapse.
Binance disputes that narrative, asserting the tweets came after news reports had already raised serious questions about FTX’s finances and that the posts reflected standard risk management rather than malicious intent.
The filing further argues that the tweets were not specifically directed at a U.S. audience, and therefore cannot serve as the basis for jurisdiction.
Binance also says the July 2021 share repurchase is protected under the Bankruptcy Code’s safe harbor provision and that FTX was not plausibly insolvent at the time, pointing to subsequent fundraising rounds at higher valuations.
Citing the criminal conviction of FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried and his 25-year prison sentence, Binance maintains that the exchange collapsed due to internal fraud—not because of external actions.
The court has not yet ruled on the motion.
Featured image by Kanchanara on Unsplash
