KEYTAKEAWAYS
- CZ claims the backlash against his buy-and-hold comments reflects coordinated behavior rather than organic community debate.
- Binance’s token listing process is again questioned, with critics calling for Nasdaq-style transparency and clear baseline standards.
- Amid rising FUD and extreme accusations, Binance leadership engages publicly while signaling continued expansion and resilience.
- KEY TAKEAWAYS
- BUY-AND-HOLD STRATEGY SPARKS DEBATE AS CZ ACCUSES COMMUNITY OF COORDINATED ATTACKS
- BINANCE LISTING PROCESS ACCUSED OF OPACITY AS CZ PUSHES BACK WITH NASDAQ COMPARISON
- EXTREME ACCUSATIONS AND UNORTHODOX HIRING: BINANCE’S RESPONSE STRATEGY AMID NEGATIVE SENTIMENT
- DISCLAIMER
- WRITER’S INTRO
CONTENT
Binance founder CZ responds to backlash over his buy-and-hold remarks, denies coordinated attacks, defends Binance’s listing approach, and faces renewed scrutiny over transparency and governance.
BUY-AND-HOLD STRATEGY SPARKS DEBATE AS CZ ACCUSES COMMUNITY OF COORDINATED ATTACKS
Yesterday (1/28), Binance founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) publicly responded to a surge of negative commentary on X, characterizing the growing backlash as a “coordinated attack.”
There is some coordinated attack recently, picking that as a topic… 🤷♂️
Lots of accounts I don’t recognize suddenly tweet roughly copy and paste on the same topic.
— CZ 🔶 BNB (@cz_binance) January 28, 2026
The dispute can be traced back to January 25, when Changpeng Zhao shared his personal trading observations, noting that over years of market experience, he found that very few strategies consistently outperform a “buy-and-hold” approach, which he also described as his personal preference. Although he later clarified that his remarks did not constitute financial advice, the comments quickly spread across the crypto community (CT), triggering a wave of intense criticism from numerous accounts.
I’ve seen many different trading strategies over the years, very few can beat the simple “buy and hold”, which is what I do.
Not financial advice.
— CZ 🔶 BNB (@cz_binance) January 25, 2026
Zhao pointed out that many unfamiliar accounts suddenly began posting nearly identical content targeting the same topic, arguing that this “copy-and-paste” pattern was a clear sign of a coordinated attack. As some narratives distorted his remarks into advocating “blindly holding all tokens,” Zhao further clarified that such a strategy is obviously not suitable for every asset. He stressed that if an investor were to hold every cryptocurrency that has ever existed, the resulting portfolio performance would be extremely poor.
4. Have seen some twisted FUD on this “buy and hold” tweet. It obviously does not apply to every coin.
If you “buy and hold” all crypto ever created, you know how your portfolio will perform. Same as if you bought every internet or AI projects/companies… 🤷♂️
In any industry,… https://t.co/ipXIOCLH6m
— CZ 🔶 BNB (@cz_binance) January 27, 2026
He emphasized that in any industry, most projects ultimately fail, with only a small number able to withstand the test of time and achieve exponential growth—mirroring the logic of early-stage investments in internet or artificial intelligence (AI) companies.
Zach Witkoff, co-founder of World Liberty Financial, echoed this view, noting that the “anger” directed at Changpeng Zhao, Binance, and co-CEO He Yi tends to surface in a strikingly uniform manner. He argued that this level of coordination itself serves as evidence of organized manipulation behind the scenes.
Funny how the loudest “concerns” about @binance @cz_binance @heyibinance always seem to arrive in perfect formation. Coordinated outrage is usually the tell. Builders keep building. Noise fades. History remembers those who actually moved the industry forward.
— Zach Witkoff (@ZachWitkoff) January 28, 2026
BINANCE LISTING PROCESS ACCUSED OF OPACITY AS CZ PUSHES BACK WITH NASDAQ COMPARISON
On X, a user known as “UnicornBitcoin” challenged Changpeng Zhao over Binance’s listing standards, questioning what criteria the exchange uses to approve new tokens. The user argued that as a top-tier exchange, Binance’s listings appear crowded with random projects and even alleged Rug Pulls, and that exchanges should prioritize assets users can confidently hold long term. They suggested Binance adopt transparent listing standards similar to those of Nasdaq, rather than operating under what they described as a “black box” system.
In response, Zhao pushed back with a rhetorical counterquestion: if the same logic were applied to Nasdaq after the 1990s, how many of the thousands of internet startups listed at the time would have met such expectations? He argued that no one can accurately predict a project’s future trajectory. In his view, an exchange’s role is to give hard-working projects an opportunity, not to act as an all-knowing gatekeeper or to guarantee that token prices will only rise.
Zhao stressed that ultimate investment decisions and responsibility rest with users themselves, who must conduct their own research (DYOR). He even remarked that those who disagree with his views are free to unfollow him—“out of sight, out of mind.”
However, critics quickly pushed back again, noting that Nasdaq does have clearly defined listing requirements that serve as a baseline filter, while leaving a project’s upside to be determined by the market. By contrast, they argued that Binance’s opaque listing rules effectively abandon even this basic “bottom line.”
EXTREME ACCUSATIONS AND UNORTHODOX HIRING: BINANCE’S RESPONSE STRATEGY AMID NEGATIVE SENTIMENT
Amid this week’s wave of negative commentary, some posts escalated into extreme rhetoric, labeling Changpeng Zhao and Binance as “terrorists” of the crypto industry. Certain accounts even claimed that last October’s market crash was deliberately engineered by the exchange to “prey on” users, going so far as to argue that Zhao should be sent back to prison.
The accusations circulating online included claims that Binance imposes an 8% “tax” on token supply, deliberately listed the token “$JELLY” to undermine Hyperliquid, and was responsible for the collapse of FTX. Despite the lack of concrete evidence, slogans such as “#BoycottBinance” and “Biggest Scammer” continued to spread among certain community accounts.
Facing an overwhelming wave of FUD—fear, uncertainty, and doubt—Changpeng Zhao remained on the front lines, engaging directly with users to defend his trading logic and the company’s reputation. At the same time, Binance co-CEO He Yi adopted a different approach, attempting to convert negative attention into momentum by posting Binance’s job openings and signaling that the company remains in expansion mode despite the controversy.
Whether this public opinion battle surrounding the world’s largest exchange will gradually fade—or instead push Binance to reform its opaque listing practices—remains an open question.
