Binance Founder Changpeng Zhao: Gifts Are Not Bribes, They Turn Recipients into Walking Billboards for Promotion
Changpeng Zhao, founder of Binance, responded on social media to New York Times reporter David Yaffe-Bellany, stating that the report implied giving Binance merchandise as bribery, which is a misleading description under a skeptical attitude.
He clarified that the purpose of giving away merchandise is to turn recipients into walking billboards for promotion. He also claimed the report is biased but still thanked the article. The article was written by David Yaffe-Bellany from Abu Dhabi and published on October 1, 2026, with a print version appearing in the business section on October 4.
The report described a villa foyer piled with boxes of Binance merchandise, which Zhao allowed the reporter to take, with options including backpacks and sweaters in yellow and black color schemes. The reporter noted that media rules prohibit accepting gifts worth more than $20. Zhao humorously stated the price was about $19. Photography was by Laura Boushnak.
The same report mentioned that he pleaded guilty to anti-money laundering violations in 2023, served four months in prison, and was pardoned by the president in October 2025, while still being the majority shareholder of Binance. The interview scene also included a white Nissan SUV, a nine-bedroom villa, four bodyguards, a chef, and a yacht named Da Moon.
The gifts occurred during the home interview and were not token transfers or equity arrangements. Zhao did not disclose the number of items given away, their cost, or the list of recipients. He stated the only purpose was to make the wearers mobile advertisements. The reporter declined due to the $20 gift limit, and Zhao used the $19 figure to fit within the acceptable range for the media.
No buyers in the secondary market accepted these gifts. The event was driven by the gift rules in the personal report, not by trading. The cost of the merchandise remains in brand promotion and does not enter the reporter's account. The beneficiary is Zhao, who continues to control the majority stake and write about his life in Abu Dhabi as an industry cover story, while the pressured side is the reporting narrative that must frame the gifts as either a transfer of benefits or advertising.
The article did not provide the procurement price of the merchandise nor did it state that the reporter ultimately took any items.
Source: Public Information
ABAB AI Insight
After resigning as CEO and pleading guilty in November 2023, Changpeng Zhao's public narrative relies mainly on interviews rather than financial reports. David Yaffe-Bellany's Abu Dhabi report portrays him as still holding a majority stake and an estimated wealth of $114 billion; the boxes in the foyer are part of the interview flow, not new financing documents. The $20 limit is a newsroom gift rule, and Zhao used approximately $19 to fit the merchandise into the rule's boundaries.
The merchandise does not transfer SAFE, BNB, or Binance equity. He defines recipients as walking billboards, equating the physical cost to customer acquisition rather than payments to reporters. The pardon in October 2025 restores travel and public appearances, while the gifts continue the exchange's early grassroots marketing: low unit price, high exposure, and no entry into the equity table. After the reporter declined, the controversy remained in the description, leaving no transfer records.
A comparable case is Sam Bankman-Fried in 2022 using political donations and media visits to exchange for regulatory narratives, and Robinhood in 2021 using free stocks to turn users into dissemination nodes. Zhao's current phase is not about expansion distribution but rather a reset of his image post-conviction. The gift amount is actively downplayed, while his control remains unchanged.
The essence is the transfer of pricing power. The same box of merchandise is priced by the newsroom according to conflicts of interest, while the founder prices it according to advertising inventory. The mechanism is that without invoices and recipient lists, the power of description determines whether it counts as bribery or grassroots marketing. The $19 claim only adjusts the unit price but does not change the fact that Binance is still controlled by the original majority shareholder.
ABAB News · Law of Cognition
The gift rule defines nature; unit price only determines whether it can be accepted.
When there are no transfer records, the power of description is the pricing power.
Advertising inventory can be given away, but control will not be given away.