- U.S. Congresswoman Stacey Plaskett recently called Changpeng Zhao a Chinese national during a House Subcommittee hearing.
- Crypto influencers took issue with CZ’s characterization, implying that the Binance Chief was being called a CCP asset.
- Changpeng Zhao responded by clarifying that he left China when he was 12 and is now a Canadian citizen.
Changpeng Zhao (CZ), the man behind the world’s largest crypto exchange, has responded to allegations regarding his nationality and affiliation with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
House Democrat Stacey Plaskett, a U.S. Representative from the Virgin Islands of the United States, made the allegations during a recent U.S. House Judiciary Select Subcommittee hearing on the Weaponization of the Federal Government. The hearing revolved around Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter and the subsequent reporting of “Twitter Files,” which gave an insight into the unethical policies of the social media giant.
While addressing Michael Shellenberger, Plaskett pointed out that Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, who also happens to own a $500 million stake in Twitter, is a Chinese national. “While he has Canadian citizenship, he is a Chinese national,” she said while addressing Shellenberger.
Popular crypto influencer Chris Blec took issue with Plaskett’s characterization of Zhao as a Chinese national. Blec accused the U.S. lawmaker of engaging in anti-Asian discrimination by “not-so-subtly accusing Canadian citizen Changpeng Zhao of being a CCP asset.”
Zhao responded to the allegations earlier today, saying that Stacey Plaskett had her facts wrong. He clarified that he had not been a citizen of China for over 30 years and had never been a part of the CCP. The Binance CEO added that he had moved to Canada when he was 12 and that all crypto exchanges have been banned in China since 2017.
Users on Twitter were divided on the issue. While many agreed with Blec’s claims that Plaskett had discriminated against Zhao, some pointed out that the lawmaker had only stated facts. She never mentioned the CCP or Zhao’s citizenship, and she only highlighted his nationality.
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