Changpeng Zhao, the head of the cryptocurrency exchange Binance and one of the richest people in the industry, stood up for his reputation after accusations of running a pyramid scheme. The other side of the conflict was Bloomberg Businessweek, which published an article the day before with the headline.

Zhao said in a lawsuit filed with a Hong Kong court that the Chinese version of the magazine, No. 250, contained material that discredited his image and thus caused reputational damage to Binance and to him personally. The businessman was extremely dissatisfied with the wording of the title "Changpeng Zhao's pyramid scheme. In addition, Zhao felt it was unacceptable for an article about him to be disseminated on popular social networks.

An official statement was also made by the Binance executive's lawyers. According to them, the American version of the material also contains slander about their mentee. It is purposefully used to mislead the audience into believing that Zhao is allegedly involved in illegal or dubious financial activities.

Changpeng Zhao is asking the court to seek damages from the publication, and to compel Bloomberg Businessweek to remove the material and stop distributing it.