Changpeng Zhao, the co-founder and former CEO of crypto exchange Binance, may have thought his legal troubles were over when he was recently released from prison. But on Monday, FTX, the collapsed crypto exchange founded by Sam Bankman-Fried, sued Zhao and Binance over a $1.76 billion stock repurchase. 

FTX, which is currently in bankruptcy proceedings in Delaware, argues that the funds Binance and its executives received from FTX in the June 2021 were fraudulently transferred because FTX and its affiliated hedge fund, Alameda Research, were “balance-sheet insolvent,” at the time of the deal, according to a filing reported by Bloomberg. (Binance called the claims “meritless” and Zhao did not respond to Bloomberg’s request for comment.) 

The bad blood between the two exchanges runs deep: Zhao was one of the first to raise questions about the value of FTX-issued tokens, sparking a selloff and scrutiny of its finances. Eventually it was revealed that Bankman-Fried and his employees were secretly moving money between FTX and Alameda Research. In March of this year, Bankman-Fried was sentenced to 25 years in prison for multiple counts of fraud. Other senior executives pleaded guilty and received lesser sentences. 

Zhao recently served four months in prison after pleading guilty to unrelated charges of not taking appropriate steps to prevent money laundering in Binance. The company has continued to operate without Zhao, who is barred from returning to work there. Even if he could return, Zhao told Bloomberg he has no desire to do so. “I’ve been leading the company for seven years. I enjoyed it. It’s a lot of work. But I think that chapter is that chapter,” he told the outlet in one of his first post-prison interviews. 

Although the legal actions against Bankman-Fried and Zhao once appeared to put the crypto industry in jeopardy, since then it has bounced back. Already, there are signs it will become increasingly influential under President Donald Trump’s second term. Over the weekend, bitcoin hit a new all-time high of over $80,000. 

Read more: 

  • Binance CEO Will Serve 4 Months in Prison, but Will Be a Very Rich Inmate 
  • Sam Bankman-Fried Sentenced to 25 Years in Prison 
  • CZ Is Out, as Binance Becomes the Latest Crypto Company to Get Crushed by the Feds