This is what Tron founder Justin Sun said about his alleged deal with Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao

Tron founder, Justin Sun, has come forward to deny claims about his alleged deal with Binance CEO, Changpeng Zhao (CZ). Based on recent reports, the billionaire entrepreneur was trying to sell his stake in the Huobi exchange to Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange by trading volume, but was turned down citing Huobi’s relationship with China.

Tron’s Justin Sun dismisses Huobi sale talks with Binance’s CZ

Justin Sun strongly denied reports of having acquired a stake in Huobi following the move by asset management platform, About Capital, to acquire a 60% stake in the exchange. According to Sun, he merely serves as an advisor to the exchange, with Huobi noting that the exchange was under his leadership. While the extent of Sun’s involvement with Huobi remains unclear, there is little doubt he is a leader of the company.

Commenting on the report, Sun articulated that the crypto exchange did not intend to change ownership.

Sun also asserted that Binance was among Huobi’s most valued partners, adding that no offer was made on Huobi to Changpeng Zhao last week. In his words:

We have always regarded Binance as one of our most important partners and will continue to work closely with them on all levels. However, I must point out that in the past week or so, I have not proposed any offer to CZ regarding the purchase of HuobiGlobal, nor have we even discussed Huobi in the past week or so.

“Huobi is not seeking a stake buyer” Justin Sun

Recently, Bloomberg published a similar report claiming that Justin Sun was looking to sell an undisclosed stake in Huobi Global as part of the exchange’s fundraising efforts. Nevertheless, Sun denied the report, calling it an “April Fool’s Day prank.”

The fundraiser speculation comes after the Huobi exchange retrenched about 20% of its staff earlier in the year, on grounds of the crypto bear market. Moreover, the crypto firm has also demonstrated plans to shift its headquarters to Hong Kong from its current base in Singapore.

The Tron creator has been a headlining topic since the United States Securities and Exchanges Commission (SEC) filed charges against him, claiming that Tron’s token (TRX) and BitTorrent’s token (BTT) were securities.

According to the US SEC, given their sale took place without being registered, all the associated entities committed securities fraud. The agency also alleged that Sun was fraudulently manipulating TRX price in the secondary market and allegedly led his staff to perform wash trading.

Not the first rejection of the Huobi exchange

If the alleged intention to sell and subsequent rejection was true, then it is worth mentioning that it would not be the first time a buyer shies off the exchange. In August 2022, founder Leon Li was also considering selling his majority stake in the crypto exchange, but FTX founder and then CEO Sam Bankman-Fried said he would not buy Huobi.

Reportedly, interested investors in the talks with Li included Sam Bankman-Fried and Justin Sun.