Coinbase chief legal officer Paul Grewal has denied, on behalf of the firm, allegations that the exchange was involved in the Bloomberg story about Trump-linked World Liberty Financial and Binance. In his post on X, Grewal said the allegations were just misinformation.
According to Grewal, Coinbase was not a source of the story because the firm refrains from attacking its competitors. Thus, he asked that the search for the source of the story should remain ongoing. “We absolutely did not contribute to this story. We don’t attack competitors, and we welcome any businesses that share our goal of growing the crypto pie,” he said.
Coinbase CLO denies allegations against the exchange
Grewal’s post was in response to one made by crypto personality Matt Wallace on X, where he alleged that the exchange was fingered as the anonymous source of the story. Wallace mentioned that Coinbase attacked to prevent Binance from regaining its full strength in the United States. This is expected to happen if its founder, Changpeng Zhao gets the official pardon that he has been allegedly lobbying for under the Trump administration.
Although he refused to provide evidence to back his claims, Wallace mentioned that if Binance were to fully return to the US, then the exchange would chip off some of Coinbase’s market share, because Binance has a better global reach and charges lower fees. He described the move as anti-American for targeting the US President. The post was retweeted by former Binance CEO Zhao, which translates to speculations that he might believe it to be the truth. Despite Grewal debunking the allegations, the post has continued to garner over a million views on X.
CZ threatens to sue for defamation
Meanwhile, the story causing the controversy is a Bloomberg publication that claimed that Binance developed the smart contract for the recently launched stablecoin USD1. USD1 was launched by World Liberty Financial, a crypto project supported by the Trump family. Bloomberg also claimed that the creation of the stablecoin and its use for the $2 billion investment in Binance UAE sovereign fund are all connected to Zhao’s attempts to get a presidential pardon.
USD1 has a circulating supply of $2.20 billion, with Binance holding around $2 billion. Meanwhile, Zhao criticized the Bloomberg story as a hit piece and even suggested that a competitor sponsored it. The crypto billionaire added that he might sue Bloomberg for defamation again, referencing his previous lawsuit against the media house in 2022, which led to the company publishing an apology.
Zhao has never hidden his disdain for Bloomberg and several other mainstream publications, noting that they mostly spread false claims about the crypto industry and himself. The former Binance founder confirmed some weeks ago that he had applied for a presidential pardon, noting that he used the stipulated process and has never met the US President.
The post Coinbase debunks claims it leaked story tying Binance to Trump-linked coins first appeared on Coinfea.
