“I’m completely satisfied to guess $1 billion USD,” Binance founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) instructed OKX founder Star Xu, “that: I’m formally divorced.”
That escalated shortly.
With one of many largest peer-to-peer bets ever publicly provided, the Binance-OKX feud went nuclear this week.
As if the guess wasn’t fascinating sufficient on its face, in line with Xu’s responses, playing isn’t authorized for United Arab Emirates residents, but polygamy is.
For context, CZ labored at Xu’s crypto change, OKCoin, however left beneath contested circumstances earlier than creating Binance. The 2 exchanges have been fierce opponents ever since, with periodic public spats over listings and numerous market practices.
CZ left OKCoin in early 2015 after Xu tried to renegotiate his fairness stake. OKCoin’s 2015 Reddit assertion accused CZ of contributing no code, operating his personal buying and selling bots on firm methods, and mounting a marketing campaign of “lies and determined nonsense” after his departure.
CZ’s memoir characterizes his departure extra vaguely, as a conflict of imaginative and prescient.
Anyway, what occurred that escalated their disagreement to $1 billion?
CZ’s memoir airs years of soiled laundry
When CZ revealed his e-book Freedom of Cash on April 8, Xu known as him a “ordinary liar.” Amongst many accusations, Xu claimed CZ lied about his marital standing.
CZ doubled-down, calling Xu’s guess and pushing in $1 billion in chips.
Xu additionally claimed CZ revealed falsehoods about his profession at OKCoin, his contract dispute with Roger Ver, his alleged manipulation of crypto markets, and whether or not he was a authorities informant in opposition to Justin Solar.
Fed up, CZ demanded of Xu, “You possibly can apologize now.” He provided “$1 billion USD (or any quantity you select),” giving Xu 24 hours to just accept.
A refusal, in line with CZ’s characterization, would “clearly present who has been mis-representing to the general public.”
Xu declined, citing not solely the illegality of playing in his nation of residence, but in addition his skilled obligations.
“As the final word helpful proprietor of a regulated firm, publicly providing a $1 billion guess is hardly skilled conduct,” he mentioned.
Yi He backs up CZ
Xu demanded particulars in regards to the largest supply of CZ’s private wealth. “Has your Binance stake been legally separated along with your ex-wife or not?”
Yi He, the mom of CZ’s youngsters and clearly implicated within the debate, didn’t keep quiet on social media. In 2014, after assembly CZ at a blockchain occasion, Yi helped CZ be a part of OKCoin as chief expertise officer.
Quickly, they have been romantically concerned.
Yesterday, she promoted a Binance on-chain prediction market asking customers to wager on whether or not Xu would publicly apologize to CZ.
She taunted Xu to interact.
Let’s examine, primarily based on the chance,：
“whether or not Star will apologize to CZ ？” https://t.co/mBdeGNCwaB— Yi He (@heyibinance) April 9, 2026
CZ claimed Star Xu acquired Leon Li arrested
The memoir’s most explosive new allegation considerations Huobi (now HTX) founder Leon Li.
In his e-book, CZ wrote that Xu (utilizing Star Xu’s actual identify, Mingxing) reported Li to Chinese language police, resulting in Li’s November 2020 detention.
Xu known as that declare “purely false info.”
The disagreement is one more instance of the CZ versus Xu battle.
Contested particulars of an OKCoin settlement
This week, Xu resurfaced a 2015 video exhibiting an OKCoin accountant’s QQ account, allegedly accessed within the presence of a notary.
Inside that QQ account, a video reveals CZ apparently sending two variations of a Bitcoin.com area settlement. The video reveals Model 7 first, then a modified Model 8 with a six-month termination clause absent from Model 7.
CZ had beforehand attributed the chat data to an unauthorized account intrusion.
“Do you consider such an evidence?” Xu requested rhetorically.
Roger Ver sued OKCoin’s Hong Kong entity for about $570,000 over the contract dispute.
In different phrases, CZ and Xu are basically arguing this week about that contract by way of a decade-old QQ video.
CZ known as ‘ordinary liar’ over Huobi founder claims in new e-book
Extra feuds
Xu had spent months previewing his arguments in public earlier than CZ’s e-book arrived.
Following the 2025 flash crash, Xu blamed Binance for the de-peg of Ethena’s USDE stablecoin.
“October 10 was brought on by irresponsible advertising campaigns by sure firms,” Xu wrote. “No complexity. No accident.”
He additionally accused Binance of repeatedly launching what he known as Ponzi-like schemes and utilizing influencer campaigns to suppress dissent.
CZ mentioned he’d “attempt to not touch upon this subject additional” and retweeted rebuttals from allies.
In 2023, CZ pleaded responsible to failing to take care of efficient anti-money laundering packages, paid a $50 million legal wonderful, and watched the corporate he based pay over $4.3 billion in penalties.
After serving a four-month jail sentence, he obtained a presidential pardon from Donald Trump final 12 months.
