The popular pro-XRP lawyer, John E Deaton, recently quoted an interview with Kevin O’Leary, a.k.a. Mr. Wonderful, in which the millionaire took another jab at Binance, CZ, and FTX, asking why he continues to be so obsessed, especially with Changpeng Zhao.
Recall that O’Leary was paid approximately $15 million in various forms to promote FTX ahead of its collapse a year ago.
O’Leary’s History With FTX, Binance
It has been just over a year since the loud and rapid collapse of one of crypto’s former giants – FTX. Ever since then, though, O’Leary has used every opportunity to bash Binance, a company that had a rich history with FTX and some believe was among the main culprits behind the latter’s crash.
He kept defending Sam Bankman-Fried, even to the authorities, saying he would still back him despite the bankruptcy of his empire.
Even though a year has passed, SBF was recently found guilty on numerous counts, including defrauding investors, O’Leary continues to mention Binance as the bad, unregulated apple of the crypto industry.
In a recent interview, he praised an upcoming exchange, dubbed M2, which will be regulated under certain jurisdictions and will be backed by “billions and tied to huge financial institutions.” Simultaneously, he predicted that Binance “will lose half of its accounts to the new M2.”
While weighing in on the potential approval of a spot Bitcoin ETF in the States, O’Leary said such a development could legitimize the asset but would mean trouble for the “crypto cowboys” like Binance:
“The age of the crypto cowboy – the FTX and the Binance – those days are over.”
Why So Obsessed?
After FTX’s collapse, numerous individuals, celebrities, and prominent companies distanced themselves from the failed exchange and its founder, but not O’Leary. As mentioned above, he remained a believer, at least on paper, which could be attributed to the $15 million he received to promote the firm ahead of its crash.
While it was understandable to defend the company and its execs when things were going well, it’s somewhat of a mystery to do so now and to keep taking jabs at one of FTX’s former rivals – Binance. John E Deaton, a popular pro-XRP and crypto lawyer, asked on X from where this obsession came.
Anyone ever figure out the origin of why @kevinolearytv is so obsessed with @cz_binance? Not too long ago Kevin, not so wonderfully, was pushing FTX over Binance, even assigning more blame of the collapse on CZ than Sam. Even today, he seems to always take shots at Binance or… https://t.co/5PNXZRhYnQ
— John E Deaton (@JohnEDeaton1) November 15, 2023
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