Crypto Twitter has once again revived its dissatisfaction with Binance and its former CEO, months after the exchange allegedly caused a market downturn with its memorable October 10 liquidation event.
Over the past five days, Zhao Changpeng has been labeled as a “fraud” and “worse than SBF” on several social media platforms. Binance's former CEO believes the attack was driven by fear, uncertainty, and doubt (FUD), but there is no doubt that retail traders are frustrated simply by the fact that the market has not recovered from what happened last October.
CZ came under fire for saying 'buy and hold' is the best investment strategy
It all started over the weekend when Zhao posted a message on X in which he argued that most trading strategies can't beat simple buy-and-hold techniques. In the eyes of the crypto community, his statements completely ignore current reality.
It's not the first time, and it won't be the last.
We've been under FUD attacks since day one. We'll address this in tonight's AMA and explore below the surface why and how.
While our (self-perceived) “competitors” are looking at us, we continue to build and grow. 💪 https://t.co/g7bil6w5Mh
— CZ 🔶 $BNB (@cz_binance) January 30, 2026
According to CoinGecko, Bitcoin has fallen a whopping 25% in the past three months and is currently trading at $82,000. October 10th was the last day the coin traded above $120,000.
Furthermore, according to the price chart of tokens listed on Binance in 2025 and 2026, more than 90% of the 221 Alpha-listed projects are well below their post-listing high price. This sense of disconnect has led traders to lose confidence in Binance's listings and Zhao's statements.
“CZ I held all the tokens listed on Binance last year. Please advise,” one trader wrote, mocking the former Binance head’s advice.
Zhao addressed the criticism in a follow-up post on Thursday, boasting that “FUD has not harmed its targets” and that “his supporters have increased.” He went on to say that FUD is harming the entire crypto market, claiming that neither he nor Binance sold large amounts of tokens.
“I/Binance does not sell any meaningful amount. My sale = When I swipe my card, I receive $5 worth of $BNB Converts/sends to coffee shop. I no longer run Binance, but from what I know, Binance only converts a portion of its revenue into paying expenses. They are massive online hoarders,” he said. explained.
Chao also said that Binance is under the scrutiny of regulators around the world, who can review every transaction in every account. “Don't get me wrong, use your energy for positive improvements for yourself,” the Binance co-founder concluded.
OKX founder and Cathie Wood blame Binance for 10/10 woes
“People underestimated the impact of the 10/0 incident,” OKX founder Star Xu wrote on Wednesday, adding that it “caused real and lasting damage to the industry.” The market capitalization of cryptocurrencies has fallen by more than 20% since the end, dropping to approximately $3.2 trillion at the time of this writing.
Binance reported that it paid approximately $283 million in compensation arising from the de-pegging incident and related issues. The company said that the most serious technical problems occurred after prices had already bottomed out, and additional payments were planned for confirmed losses.
However, Xu believes that Binance caused the volatility by supporting profit takers, insider trading, and Ponzi crypto schemes. Although he did not mention any names in his critique, it was clear to Crypto Twitter that Binance was the platform he was talking about.
“Some choose to pursue short-term profits, launching Ponzi-like schemes, amplifying the ‘get rich quick’ narratives of a few, directly or indirectly manipulating the prices of low-quality tokens, and drawing millions of users into assets closely tied to them. This becomes a shortcut to attract traffic and user attention,” the OKX founder claimed.
In a recent interview with Fox Business, ARK Invest CEO Cathie Wood Reconsidering the chaos of October 10th. Wood said the ecosystem has been dealing with the aftershocks of a forced deleveraging event over the past few months.
Cathie Wood: The worst is likely over for Bitcoin
Kathy explained it very clearly, saying that the past couple of months have basically been an aftershock of the October 10th flash crash, a software glitch at Binance that forced them to deleverage around $28 billion across cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin was the most difficult… pic.twitter.com/iOuLCzOHaG
— CryptosRus (@CryptosR_Us) January 27, 2026
She estimated that the rollback wiped $28 billion from the industry and linked the episode to Binance's technical problems. “What happened on October 10th in the crypto world… a flash crash related to a software glitch in Binance that reduced the leverage of the system?” she speculated.
In a now-deleted X post, Binance CEO Yi He echoed Wood's sentiments, saying, “Cathie Wood is not a user of Binance. We do not serve individuals or entities in the United States. No offense intended.”
