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Binance and its founder Changpeng Zhao have subpoenaed Kevin O’Leary. The move is part of their defense in a lawsuit seeking at least $1.76 billion tied to FTX’s collapse.
The FTX saga ended years ago for most people. In Delaware bankruptcy court, it is very much still in session.
What the lawsuit is about
The case was brought by the FTX Recovery Trust and FTX Digital Markets Ltd. against Binance Holdings Limited and Zhao, widely known as CZ. It was filed on November 10, 2024.
At its center is a 2021 deal in which Binance sold its stake in FTX back to the exchange. The share repurchase was executed in July 2021, and the estate says it was worth $1.76 billion.
The trust argues that transaction was a fraudulent transfer. Its claim is that FTX was already insolvent when it paid Binance to exit.
Bankruptcy law gives estates a tool for that situation, called a clawback. If a court finds a payment was improper, the money can be pulled back and redistributed to creditors.
The estate also asserts the $1.76 billion represents part of the funds misappropriated from customer assets. That framing matters, because it ties the dispute directly to people who lost money when FTX failed.
Why O’Leary, and why now
O’Leary is not a random pick from the crypto Rolodex. On December 14, 2022, he testified that Binance intentionally undermined FTX.
That claim cuts in an interesting direction for this case. Binance and CZ are now the ones seeking information from him.
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The timing follows a key ruling. On July 27, 2026, US Bankruptcy Judge Karen B. Owens denied motions to dismiss the core fraudulent-transfer claims against Binance and Zhao.
That decision opened the door to discovery and an eventual trial. Discovery is the phase where each side can demand documents and testimony from parties and outside witnesses alike.
Getting here took time. Binance contested the court’s jurisdiction over the proceedings in early 2025, and its motions to dismiss were partially litigated before Judge Owens issued her ruling.
The defendants did not get the core claims tossed. So the case has moved from arguing about whether it should exist to arguing about what actually happened.
The broader backdrop
FTX’s collapse in 2022 remains one of the defining failures in crypto history. Recovering money for its customers has been a long, grinding legal project since then.
The Binance case stands out for its size and its defendants. The world’s best-known exchange and its founder are not typical targets for a recovery trust.
Tokens tied to this chapter of history include FTT, BNB, and BUSD. Those names are a reminder of how intertwined the two exchanges were before the relationship soured.
What this means
For FTX creditors, the stakes are concrete. A successful clawback of at least $1.76 billion could add meaningfully to what the estate has available to distribute.
For Binance and CZ, the subpoena signals a defense that is digging into the context around FTX’s demise. Pulling in a witness who has publicly accused Binance of undermining FTX suggests the defendants want to test that narrative directly, rather than leave it unchallenged.
One thing worth watching is whether O’Leary complies with the subpoena or challenges its scope, since that would shape how much of his account reaches the record.
The biggest question is solvency. The estate has to show FTX was already insolvent in July 2021, and much of the fight is likely to turn on that point.
