The longstanding feud between Star Xu, founder of OKX, and Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, founder of Binance, reignited on Thursday. Xu accused CZ of being a “habitual liar” through posts on X, revisiting allegations from over ten years ago.
The dispute harks back to 2015 when Zhao was working at OKCoin, founded by Xu. During that time, Zhao faced accusations of “harmful acts of conduct” and misleading statements related to a contract issue involving Roger Ver, which Zhao has consistently denied.
This recent flare-up follows an earlier disagreement in January, where Xu blamed Binance-linked market dynamics for exacerbating the Oct. 10 crypto crash, a claim refuted by Binance and others. The latest tension was sparked by CZ’s memoir published this week, as noted by Xu.
“I 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,” Xu posted on X.
CZ addressed past allegations in his memoir. “Out of nowhere, Star [Xu] claimed that I somehow forged a contract while at OKCoin,” he wrote. “In May 2015, feeling frustrated, I made a public Reddit post denying any forgery… and highlighted several issues I noticed at OKCoin.”
Xu countered by referencing a video he claims shows conflicting versions of the contract and reiterated accusations that Zhao had misled the public.
“After serving four months in prison, he continues to spread falsehoods,” Xu wrote, adding, “A habitual liar never changes their nature.”
The argument escalated when Xu questioned whether Zhao had misrepresented his marital status, citing a CoinDesk report where Zhao’s spouse was referred to as his “wife” in legal documents. Xu offered an apology if Zhao could produce a divorce agreement signed by both parties.
Zhao confirmed he is “officially divorced,” proposing a $1 billion bet or any amount chosen by Xu to prove the divorce had been finalized, offering legal verification but refusing to publish the documents.
Xu declined the wager due to compliance issues related to running a regulated exchange and instead questioned if Zhao’s Binance stake was legally separated from his divorce.
Zhao dismissed this line of questioning as irrelevant and accused Xu of deflecting.