Former Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao has broken his silence to characterize a recent deluge of online vitriol against him and the exchange as a “coordinated attack.” The crypto billionaire took to X (formerly Twitter) to defend himself after a seemingly innocuous piece of trading advice sparked a wildfire of conspiracy theories, accusations of fraud, and even labels as extreme as “terrorist of crypto.”
Zhao’s encouragement for users to “buy and hold” led to an outbreak of heated arguments and debate following his posting. While intended as standard investment wisdom, the post became a lightning rod for frustrated traders still reeling from recent market volatility. “Lots of accounts I don’t recognize suddenly tweet roughly copy and paste on the same topic,” Zhao observed, dismissing the backlash as “twisted FUD” (Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt). He clarified that his advice was not a blanket recommendation to blindly hold every token—a strategy he admitted would lead to a “terribly performing portfolio”—but rather a comment on long-term conviction.
The Shadow of “10/10”
The majority of discontent being expressed toward Binance is due to the lingering effects of the “10/10” market crash. An unprecedentedly large meltdown occurred in the cryptocurrency world on October 10, 2025, as ARK Invest CEO Cathy Wood recently commented on Fox News when she referred to this event as being the result of a “software glitch,” thus leading to an increase in scrutiny and analysis of Binance’s infrastructure.
The specific incident involved the de-pegging of Ethena’s synthetic dollar, USDe, on the Binance platform. Although USDe maintained its on-chain peg and on decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols, its price fell to $0.65 on Binance due to what the company later determined to be an “internal oracle issue.” Because of this price difference, there was a chain reaction of liquidations that eliminated leveraged positions and resulted in massive losses for individuals. Binance later reimbursed approximately $283 million as part of this “10/10” event, yet it continues to be a point of pain for many in the community.
“Terrorists” and AI-Generated Smear Campaigns
Rhetoric surrounding Binance has gotten quite weird. One of the more popular articles about the company labelled Zhao and Binance to be “terrorists” of the crypto industry and claimed the October crash was a “manufactured” event designed to “cannibalize” user funds.
However, the lack of credible sources to back up these claims and that much of the content appears to have been produced by ChatGPT has led some to suspect that the level of outrage over the events is questionable.
One of the more specific claims made against Binance is that they purposely sabotaged the decentralized exchange Hyperliquid. Online theories suggests that Binance has listed futures tied to the “JELLY” token in order to induce volatility and destroy their decentralized competitor. When manipulation was occurring on Hyperliquid, Binance and other top exchanges listed perpetual futures for the JELLY token. Critics argue that this act made the problems even worse; however, there has been no concrete proof of a coordinated effort found.
Industry Rivals Throw Shade
The turmoil has provided an opening for competitors to critique Binance’s dominance. OKX CEO Star Xu appeared to subtly target Binance in a repost of Cathie Wood’s interview. “People have underestimated the impact of 10/10. The incident caused real and lasting damage to the industry,” Xu wrote.
Without naming Binance directly, Xu argued that industry leaders should prioritize infrastructure and trust over “short-term gains.” He blasted entities that amplify “get-rich-quick” narratives and manipulate low-quality tokens, warning that such actions draw millions of users into dangerous assets.
“Coordinated Outrage”
Despite the heavy criticism, Zhao has found allies. Zach Witkoff, co-founder of World Liberty Financial, rushed to Zhao’s defense, suggesting the timing of the attacks was suspicious. “Funny how the loudest ‘concerns’ about [Binance], [Zhao], and [Yi He] always seem to arrive in perfect formation,” Witkoff tweeted. “Coordinated outrage is usually the tell.”
According to Witkoff, this wave of negative feeling is not simply a matter of users being unhappy with their experience; it’s part of a larger plan to disrupt the dominant player in that space.
Turning Heat into Hires
In the midst of confusion while changes to the leadership at Binance were ongoing, Yi He, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Binance was pragmatic about handling the ongoing crisis. Instead of fighting back against negative commentary regarding Binance operations during this time frame, Yi He pivoted her focus back on business by using the increased level of notoriety surrounding Binance as an opportunity to garner positive media attention toward Binance operations through promoting an active job posting on the Binance exchange.
“We are hiring,” she posted, effectively signaling that despite the “FUD,” the “boycott” calls, and the accusations of fraud, the Binance machine continues to grow. Whether this resilience will be enough to silence the critics remains to be seen, but for now, the battle for the narrative is being fought in the trenches of X.
