Binance’s CEO Confirms Participating as Equity Investor in Musk’s Twitter Takeover

Changpeng Zhao said Binance had wired some $500 million “two days ago” as part of the move.

By Shaurya Malwa

Oct 28, 2022 at 5:46 a.m. UTC

Updated Oct 28, 2022 at 5:52 p.m. UTC

Shaurya Malwa

Shaurya is an analyst/editor for CoinDesk's markets team in Asia.

Follow @shauryamalwa on Twitter

Binance confirmed on Friday that it was as an equity investor in billionaire technology entrepreneur Elon Musk's takeover of microblogging service Twitter (TWTR).

"We're excited to be able to help Elon realize a new vision for Twitter,” Binance founder Changpeng Zhao said in an emailed statement. “We aim to play a role in bringing social media and Web3 together in order to broaden the use and adoption of crypto and blockchain technology."

Zhao said in a tweet that Binance had wired some $500 million as part of the deal two days ago. Twitter did not immediately respond to CoinDesk's request for comment.

In May, Binance was identified in an SEC filing as one of 19 different parties helping finance Musk's takeover, with Zhao referring to the company's $500 million commitment as "a small contribution to the cause" in a tweet after news of the takeover first emerged. He added at the time that a priority should be to reduce spam and scams on the platform.

"Our initial commitment remains the same and we look forward to exploring opportunities to grow the partnership in the future," a Binance spokesperson said.

UPDATE (Oct. 28, 06:35 UTC): Adds statement from Binance spokesperson in the fifth paragraph.

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