Binance Co-Founder CZ: ‘I Haven’t Bought a Single Meme Coin or NFT’

Binance co-founder and former CEO Changpeng Zhao, better known as CZ, has made it clear—he’s never bought a meme coin or an NFT.

On Sunday, CZ expressed his commitment to “fundamentals” in crypto, distancing himself from the hype-driven meme coin culture that continues to dominate parts of the industry.

“I haven’t bought a single meme coin so far,” he tweeted Sunday, adding his holdings are limited to Bitcoin (BTC) and BNB (BNB).

“I am not into sports cars; I don’t collect art; I haven’t bought any NFTs; I also haven’t bought most altcoins,” CZ wrote. “But I am not against any of the above.”

While CZ has stepped away from Binance’s day-to-day operations, his words still influence the industry.

“CZ’s latest remarks highlight the debate on speculation versus utility,” Vedang Vatsa, Founder of Hashtag Web3, told Decrypt. “As speculation grows, traders and builders may need to adapt to market dynamics wisely.”

Despite his disinterest in buying meme coins, CZ made it clear that he is not against them either.

“Not ‘into’ something doesn’t mean I am against it,” he said, claiming he has gone to great lengths to support many altcoins in the crypto industry.

The rise of meme coins

CZ also offered insights into why meme coins have become so popular, suggesting that regulatory scrutiny against utility tokens may have played a role.

The former Binance CEO noted that over the past four years, a “powerful regulatory agency” had “sued anyone with any utility token, falsely claiming they are securities.” This, he argued, drove projects to launch meme coins instead of utility tokens.

While CZ didn’t name the regulatory agency in question, the crypto market faced intense scrutiny under the Biden administration from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) under former chair Gary Gensler, who repeatedly classified crypto assets as securities.

CZ has personal experience of being under the SEC’s microscope; in 2023 the agency sued him and Binance for securities violations, prior to his ouster from the exchange as part of a multi-billion-dollar settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice. Last November, lawyers for Binance and CZ filed a motion to dismiss an amended complaint submitted by the SEC in the civil suit.

With new U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration showing a friendlier stance toward crypto, the industry could see a regulatory shift that allows for wider adoption of utility tokens.

Aside from regulation, CZ noted that traders naturally gravitate toward speculation, and meme coins fit that model well.

“Things with clear tangible value are harder to speculate on,” he said, pointing out that stable assets with predictable valuations struggle to attract significant trading activity.

This isn’t the first time CZ has voiced concerns about meme coin mania.

In November, he commented on the extreme nature of meme coin promotions, saying it is “getting a little weird now”.

His remark came after a live-streamed token launch on Solana-based Pump.fun platform took a disturbing turn—a creator pretended to hang himself on camera in an apparent stunt to drive token sales.

TST case

CZ’s comments come in the wake of the Test (TST) token controversy, where a test meme coin from a Binance tutorial video unexpectedly exploded in value—reaching a $500 million market cap before crashing.

TST was intended as a teaching tool in a BNB Chain tutorial on launching meme tokens on the Four.Meme platform.

However, in a blink-and-you-miss-it moment, the token’s name appeared at 1:18, triggering speculation.

Despite BNB Chain deleting the video, it was too late—Chinese crypto influencers picked it up, fueling a buying frenzy.

CZ repeatedly clarified that he had no involvement, but traders kept pumping the price.

“This is NOT an official token by the BNB Chain team, or anyone,” he tweeted last Thursday. “It is a test token used just for that video tutorial. Nothing more.”

Binance’s “broken” listing process

Amid the TST controversy, CZ criticized Binance’s listing process, pointing out that its four-hour announcement-to-listing window enables traders to manipulate prices before CEX trading begins.

“As an observer, I think the Binance listing process is a bit broken,” CZ tweeted. “They announce, then list 4 hours later.”

“The notice period is necessary, but in those 4 hours, the token prices go high on DEXes, and then people sell on CEX… Not sure if there is a solution for this though. Just beware,” the crypto leader tweeted.

While the meme coin hype shows no signs of slowing, CZ remains focused on “fundamentals.”

“There are lots of money ready to invest in the market…Lots of opportunities,” he added. “You need to build things people want.”