PANews reported on May 23 that a user named X asked Zhao Changpeng: "Did the Wall Street Journal WSJ ask you for money to stop defaming you?" Zhao Changpeng responded: "They didn't ask me for money to stop defaming you, but I heard that they took money to discredit us. There are rumors that a large venture capital firm that has invested in a US crypto exchange is lobbying heavily against 'Binance helps the United States become the capital of cryptocurrency'. They spent millions of dollars on 'lobbying activities'. This is a manifestation of fear of competition."