Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, the former CEO of Binance, has landed himself in the middle of the spotlight again for his controversial X post which has cause his to get immense heat(slang that means publicly shamed or disagreement) from Chinese X users.

Some community users even jokingly remarked that the top two richest men who are often criticised for their X comments are Trump, who commonly shout "big things are coming," and CZ, who often says, "I don't know, I don't understand, it's not me..."

CZ, who is regarded as one of the biggest Chinese leaders in the crypto landscape, was under great scrutiny by the crypto community for his support of memecoin projects that would ultimately fail and frequent endorsement of controversial projects which has made him put him in the hot seat for saying too much and making too many mistakes.

STAR10 fiasco Igniting an entire saga

CZ's support for fraudulent or failed memecoins has time and time again shown us his lack of judgement when it comes to the potential of the project in question.

One of his biggest mistakes yet would be his recent tweet supporting the STAR10 memecoin, a token launched by Brazilian football legend Ronaldinho Gaucho. In his tweet, he emphasized that it is an exclusive token launched on the BNB Chain.

Following his Post, the market cap of this token quickly surged from $200 million to over $350 million. But in less than an hour, community users were enraged after learning that the actual person behind the promotion post was a Shenzhen firm who bought Ronaldinho's X account for $5 million to promote the fraudulent coin.

Blockchain security later issued a user safety alert, stating that STAR10 has serious security risks, and the owner can destroy any holder's tokens.

While CZ's did give the disclaimer in his X post that it wasn't meant to be an endorsement of the token and even explicitly warned users of the potential risk of investing in the token, but community users still directed all the heat at CZ.

One X user called out CZ for lying when he said "its not an endorsement" because CZ was leveraging on the memecoin to increase the traffic on the BNB chain.

Many have also questioned CZ's inability to identify a token with obvious scam suspicions. Before CZ's tweet, one Twitter user has already exposed Ronaldinho's alleged collusion with the Shenzhen team to promote the token.

In light of all the burning criticism, CZ responded in a post expressing his confusion and innocence. In his post, he also attributed the controversy to the 'cultural difference', which only added fuel to the fire.

CZ even suggested,"How about I stop tweeting in Chinese from now on?" This claim was rebutted by fans that said that CZ is just using a red herring, and the true focus should be placed on the reason why he put his fans at risk by retweeting a scam project just to increase the traffic on his chain.

Other Chinese users also shot back at CZ, saying "Don't forget that Binance was built on the support of Chinese users."

Disconnect with the crypto community?

While some argue that the crypto market’s downturn has amplified scrutiny on CZ, others believe his missteps are indicative of a deeper disconnect from the community.

One user on X noted that CZ’s strategy of using meme-driven tactics to drive traffic to BNB Chain reflects a short-term, opportunistic mindset rather than a sustainable vision.

Ice Frog, another crypto commentator, suggested that CZ’s thinking is rooted in a Web2 corporate mentality, where executives often believe they can separate factual statements from perceived endorsements. However, in the decentralized world of crypto, community logic operates differently—silence can imply consent, a retweet can be seen as an endorsement, and even a denial can be interpreted as implicit validation.

CZ’s repeated missteps have also led some to question if he his mistakes is a result of the limited information he has on the topic. This led the community to suggest that CZ get strong advisors who can provide him with accurate market-driven insights to correct his pattern of misjudgement.

Others have urged him to engage more directly with key figures in the industry rather than relying solely on his internal team.

As the crypto landscape evolves, CZ faces a crucial decision: whether to adjust his approach and rebuild trust with the community or continue down a path where his statements and actions increasingly draw criticism. For now, he remains a polarizing figure—one whose words and tweets continue to shape the industry, for better or worse.