Forbes Likens Binance to FTX, Argues It Is in an “Existential Crisis”

The largest crypto exchange, Binance, has come under scrutiny again amid claims that the exchange holds the overwhelming majority of the supply of its native token, BNB.

In a recent tweet, Javier Paz, director of data and analytics at Forbes, claimed to have conducted a six-month-long investigation about Binance operations since its debut. The result of the investigation led to a two-part article titled “How Binance Turned Its Failed Token ICO Into A Billion Dollar Windfall.”

Based on his extensive investigation, Paz concluded that Binance owns an estimated 76% of the total BNB coins in circulation. In the tweet, he tagged prominent Binance critics such as Adam Cochran.

Today’s @ForbesCrypto report following my 6-mo investigation points to Binance now owning an estimated 76% of all BNB. It all started with a failed 2017 ICO. @adamscochran @Travis_Kling @CryptoDefiLord @JW100x @ChainArgos @NotChaseColeman @ArkhamIntel https://t.co/4tU5Bqn2mH pic.twitter.com/q1zp97wPZF

— Javier Paz (@eltrade) October 5, 2023

In the report, Paz argued that Binance’s 2017 initial coin offering (ICO) was a massive failure. The researcher contended the factual circumstances of the ICO were a stark contrast to what the exchange supposedly portrayed.

Specifically, the report alleged that Binance did not sell 100 million BNB at its initial offering. Paz claimed he reached the conclusion after analyzing Binance crypto wallets, revealing that only 10.78 million BNB tokens were transferred to investors who participated in its public ICO in the summer of 2017.

Moreover, the researcher claimed that Binance doubled the allocations of the participating investors to 40 million BNB tokens. Then, he concluded that “Binance likely raised less than $5 million in its offering, versus the $15 million,” its CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ), proclaimed.

At the time of reporting, neither Binance nor its CEO had responded to the claims Forbes put forward. It is also worth mentioning that this latest article is not Forbes’ first at negatively portraying Binance.

Early this year, Forbes wrote an article titled “Binance’s Asset Shuffling Eerily Similar To Maneuvers By FTX,” which CZ dismissed as “an intentional FUD.” Interestingly, this latest article from Forbes similarly drew parallels with FTX, arguing that Binance is in “an existential crisis” like FTX.

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