Zhao was born in China but moved to Canada when he was 12 years old.
Binance is the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange in terms of trading volume.
CZ addressed Guangying Chen conspiracy claims.
Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, aka CZ, has reacted angrily to critics who allege the site is "Chinese." According to the company's CEO in a blog post, the leadership team is now controlled mostly by Europeans and Americans, while the general staff is more widely distributed. "The conclusion is that we are covertly in the pocket of the Chinese government because we have ethnically Chinese personnel, and perhaps because I am ethnically Chinese," CZ added. CZ stated that the company does not have any legal entities in China and does not seek to establish any in the future.
"We are an easy target for special interests, the media, and even lawmakers that despise our industry," said the CEO.
Binance has a history of being cited by regulators around the world as the largest exchange by volume. Federal prosecutors working for the US Justice Department have asked the exchange to submit material relevant to money laundering checks and talks between significant individuals within the organization, including Zhao.
In response to some of the hypotheses surrounding Binance, CZ alluded at a "old campaign" to smear the company, reportedly started by competitors via an anonymous microsite.
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"The irony that I was once again forced to leave China - around 30 years after my parents emigrated with my sister and I - was not lost on me," CZ stated of his childhood.
"Being of Chinese heritage or having emigrated from China should not be a scarlet letter one has to wear for the rest of their life," the "Chinese-Canadian CEO" stated. It should also not allow people to cast aspersions, make false claims, or doubt one's commitment to their country."
Zhao returned to China from Canada in 2005, as the country's "web tech industry began to flourish." He further disclosed that, because the Chinese government "aided the fledgling business" behind the schemes, many other companies were first registered in China, with the "best Web3-curious engineers and investors rushing to Shanghai and Hong Kong."
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He said that even FTX and Crypto.com were established in Hong Kong at the time.
"Binance, on the other hand, was never included in China." We also do not operate culturally like a Chinese corporation. We have subsidiaries in a number of countries, including France, Spain, Italy, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain (to name a few). However, we do not have any legal entities in China and have no plans to establish any," CZ stated.
He also addressed the conspiracy rumors surrounding Guangying Chen's ownership of Binance. "Because her name appears on early Bijie Tech records, Binance's enemies have jumped at the chance to create a conspiracy idea that Guangying was secretly the owner of Bijie Tech and potentially even Binance," he explained.
Having said that, CZ made it clear to the "opposition in the West" that it cannot be portrayed as a "Chinese corporation," and neither Chen nor Binance can be regarded as a hidden agent of the Chinese government.
