As backlash over the company’s role in the October 10 liquidation and Saturday’s strange trading chart continues, Binance critics are questioning founder Zhao Changpeng (CZ) over his repeated claims that he is not an active crypto trader.
Reminding us of CZ’s ownership of market makers Merit Peak Ltd. and Sigma Chain (both traded on Binance), critics decried its bondage ($USDT) display ether ($ETH) Charts from Saturday’s Binance exchange that claim CZ is somehow involved.
Binance daytime $ETH/$USDT Chart, 5 second period, February 7, 2026. Source: TradingView, Binance
However, one of the things CZ has stated most repeatedly is that he is not an active crypto trader.
In fact, in countless interviews, he has told the story of his brief foray into active trading nearly a decade ago, concluding that he was completely new to the endeavor.
“I don’t trade at all.”
For years, CZ has maintained that he is not an active crypto trader. Although he doesn’t often make long-term purchases, he reiterates, “I’m not a trader. I buy and hold.”
Mr. CZ worked at Bloomberg, where he built a high-frequency trading platform for stockbrokers, so he had extensive experience with active traders before building his career in crypto businesses Blockchain.info, OKCoin, and Binance.
According to his biography in CZ Edition, he wanted to become a trader early in his crypto career but was not successful and decided to focus on building Binance instead.
Rather than trading midway, he trades Bitcoin (BTC) and Binance Coin ($BNB) He founded, and most importantly, a stake in Binance itself.
In an interview with a representative, CZ said, “I don’t trade at all. I just hold Bitcoin.” “I hold $BNBAnd I don’t day trade. ”
Read more: Lawsuits pile up against Binance through October 10th
CZ doesn’t need to trade to make billions from Binance
Bloomberg analysts agree that CZ’s long-held Binance stock accounts for the bulk of his estimated $50 billion net worth based on its value.
Even without holding any digital assets, CZ could be worth tens of billions of dollars just as a founding shareholder in a profitable company.
However, critics on social media have recently become skeptical of CZ, claiming or hinting that he has concerns about Binance’s manipulation of trading pairs.
very suspicious whipsaw $ETH They renewed their anger.
However, just because a trade takes place on Binance does not mean that CZ or Binance participates in those markets beyond their normal fees for matching third-party orders.
Wintermute CEO Evgeny Gayvoy called Saturday’s trading activity “market maker bots that exploded in the tens of millions” and defended his market maker company from accusations of fraud on Binance, for example.
CZ rarely acknowledged the social media controversy. He summarized this as another example of FUD and posted a summary of his snowboarding trip instead.