A long‑running feud between two of crypto’s highest‑profile exchange founders flared up again this week after Binance’s Changpeng “CZ” Zhao published a memoir — prompting a fresh broadside from OKX founder Star Xu.
Xu took to X on Thursday to revive allegations dating back to 2015, calling CZ a “habitual liar” and reiterating claims tied to Zhao’s brief time at OKCoin (the predecessor to OKX), where Zhao was accused of “harmful acts of conduct” and misleading statements in a contract dispute involving Roger Ver. Zhao has long denied those accusations.
The latest round was set off by passages in CZ’s new book. Xu wrote that he had “no intention of revisiting these old issues involving CZ … but since I’ve been dragged into this again because of the book, let’s restate the facts,” and pointed to a video he says shows conflicting contract versions. “After spending four months in prison, he continues to make false statements to the world,” Xu added.
CZ, in excerpts from the memoir, says Xu “out of the blue … said that I had somehow forged a contract when working there [at OKCoin],” and recalls a May 2015 Reddit post in which he denied forging any contracts and detailed problems he saw at OKCoin.
This episode follows an earlier public spat in January, when Xu blamed Binance‑linked market dynamics for amplifying the Oct. 10 crypto market crash — a contention Binance and others disputed.
The dispute also turned personal. Xu questioned whether Zhao had misrepresented his marital status, citing prior CoinDesk reporting that described Zhao’s spouse as his “wife” in a court filing. Xu said he would apologize if Zhao produced a divorce agreement signed by both parties.
Zhao replied that he is “officially divorced” and upped the ante with a challenge — a $1 billion bet, or any amount Xu preferred — that the divorce had been finalized, saying lawyers could verify the agreement while he declined to publish documents. Xu declined the wager, citing compliance constraints from operating a regulated exchange, and instead pressed whether Zhao’s Binance stake had been legally separated as part of any divorce. CZ dismissed the line of questioning as “none of your business” and accused Xu of deflecting.
Beyond personal barbs, the exchange highlights the lingering animosity between the founders of two of the world’s largest crypto trading venues and underscores how historical disputes can resurface with reputational and market implications.
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