Binance founder and crypto billionaire Zhao Changpeng is being sued by Sequoia Capital after a deal between the two went south.
The world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance boasts a host of features ranging from stable architecture (Multi-tier & multi-cluster system architecture) to high performance (capability to process 1,400,000 orders / second) to multiple device support (Web, Android, Html5, Wechat, PC).
The company has the backing of solid investors and advisors and has attained almost legendary status in the world of cryptocurrency. The exchange’s exponential growth has gained the admiration of members of the industry – at the same time putting it under the spotlight of regulatory entities.
The bone of contention between Zhao Changpeng and Sequoia Capital is a deal they were negotiating back in August, wherein the latter would have had almost an 11 percent stake in Binance. This would have resulted in Binance being valued at around $80 million.
Talks continued until December, when Zhao Changpeng had a change of mind, citing that shareholders believed the valuation to be inadequate. At this time, Bitcoin was trading at $20,000.
It was also at this time when IDG Capital approached the Binance founder with an offer that would have valued the company at $400 million and $1 billion in two rounds of funding.
Due to this development, Sequoia Capital believes that Zhao Changpeng had violated the company’s exclusivity arrangement.
While negotiations were initially kept quiet, Sequoia Capital has filed lawsuits at Hong Kong’s High Court. Binance has yet to issue a statement regarding the matter.
