According to Odaily Planet Daily, CZ responded to the Financial Times report on social media, calling it false and fabricated information. He emphasized that YZi Labs has not sought external funding and has not solicited or held discussions with any investors since its rebranding. The project has never produced or presented a pitch deck, nor does it have a so-called "demo." Furthermore, YZi Labs is not a spinoff from Binance.

He further clarified that he pleaded guilty only to failing to maintain adequate anti-money laundering (AML) compliance procedures, not to "money laundering" as the media had alleged, saying the two were completely different in nature. He said that traditional media outlets were deliberately confusing the concepts of "regulatory failure" and "theft."

The founder also pointed out that the FT had tried to obtain a positive response through a lunch interview, but the final report did not match the promise, so he questioned its ethics.