Former Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao faces backlash over memecoin activity driven by his antics.
An enduring concern in the crypto space is the largely unchecked ability of persons of influence to take advantage of their followers for personal gain. The latest to come under fire for this is former Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao.
Over the past few days, the Binance founder has whipped up a frenzy with plans, albeit at the request of some community members, to reveal the name and pictures of his dog to allow the community to launch and rally behind a memecoin inspired by it.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the outcome has been less than ideal. Some are now accusing Zhao of burning users just to drive activity on the BNB chain.
“CZ’s starting point is selfish. He will do anything to achieve his goal. He stepped on everyone’s bones to revitalize BSC, and the bricks and tiles of the Build [sic] were made with everyone’s corpses,” started one colorfully-worded translated critique of the Binance founder’s actions by an X user with a name translated as “Crypto Zen Master.”
The scathing statement came in response to the chaos sparked by the Binance founder’s teasers and the eventual unveiling of his Belgian Malinois named Broccoli, which led to the Brocolli memecoin saga.
Within moments of the great reveal, hundreds of broccoli-themed memecoins flooded memecoin generators like Solana’s pump.fun and BNB’S four.meme.
Congrats @cz_binance, you managed to outdone yourself. This is beyond stupid. pic.twitter.com/HhKqFuXpCG
— Kevin Lee (@kevinlee_gate) February 13, 2025
Unsurprisingly, most of these projects went to zero in apparent rug pulls.
“Zero Experience”
Responding to “Crypto Zen Master,” Zhao asserted that he had received the feedback, conceding to wanting to drive BNB network activity but arguing that he had “zero experience” launching a memecoin.
The words are a bit harsh, but that is an interesting take. Yes, I wanted to see more activity on BSC. And I did not want to get involved in issuing/running a meme coin, as I have zero experience. And I thought memes were community-driven. But feedback received. 🙏 https://t.co/M83DZq9M2T
— CZ 🔶 BNB (@cz_binance) February 13, 2025
In another response to a similar critique, the Binance founder simply asserted:
“So, memes are not purely community-driven?”
In the fallout of yet another memecoin controversy, the question remains whether there will ever be repercussions for market participants that take advantage of their large following for personal gain in this crypto wild west and whether market participants will ever tire of the grift.
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