In a series of postings on X that address claims going back more than a decade, OKX founder Star Xu called Binance founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao a “habitual liar,” reigniting the long-running conflict between the two.
The conflict stems from a contract disagreement involving Roger Ver, which Zhao has previously denied, as well as accusations of “harmful acts of conduct” and deceptive comments made against him in 2015 during his short time at OKCoin, which was founded by Xu.
Xu had previously publicly disagreed in January, accusing market dynamics associated with Binance of exacerbating the crypto meltdown on October 10—a charge that Binance and other market players denied. This most recent debate followed an earlier public argument. This week’s publication of CZ’s memoir allegedly set off the most recent flare-up, according to Xu.
Clash of the Titans
Xu reiterated in his previous tweets that Zhao had deceived the public and cited a video in which he claimed to present proof of contradicting versions of the contract.
<quote> “A habitual liar never changes their nature,” Xu said, adding, “he continues to make false statements to the world after spending four months in prison.” <quote>
After an earlier report by a leading news outlet said that Zhao’s partner was referred to as his “wife” in a letter that was delivered to a court, Xu raised the subject of whether Zhao had lied about his marital status, which led to the conflict to escalate. If Zhao could provide a divorce document that was signed by both parties, Xu promised to apologize.
Zhao said that he is “officially divorced” and challenged Xu to a wager of $1 billion or whatever Xu wanted on the finalization of the divorce, claiming that attorneys could confirm the deal without publishing the paperwork.
Xu turned down the bet, saying that operating a regulated exchange raises compliance concerns, and instead asked Zhao whether his Binance stake had been legally separated as part of any divorce.
Dismissing the line of questioning, Zhao said that his Binance shareholding was “none of your business” and accused Xu of trying to divert the conversation.
