Binance Founder CZ Tells Traders To Stop ‘Aping’ Into Meme Coins Inspired By His Social Media

In a post on X, Binance founder Changpeng Zhao warned his followers that buying into meme tokens simply because he mentioned them in a post is a high-risk strategy.

• Several meme coins tied to Zhao’s tweets have surged to large valuations before steep declines.
• Past examples include tokens linked to his dog, emojis, and offhand comments.
• The most recent instance occurred with the Wo Ta Ma Lai Le token, which gained traction last week after Zhao described certain meme-driven ideas as "sticky." 
• Most CZ-inspired tokens are now down sharply from their peak prices.

Binance founder and former CEO Changpen ‘CZ’ Zhao said Tuesday that crypto traders should not ‘ape into’ every meme token just because he randomly posts about it on X.

“I am not against meme coins, I like memes,” Zhao said in a post on X. “But if you are going to ape into every meme coin people create based on my random tweets, you are almost guaranteed to lose money.”

Source: @cz_binance/X

Binance Smart Network (BNB) token moved 1.2% higher in the last 24 hours amid a recovery in the broader cryptocurrency market. However, retail sentiment around the altcoin remained in ‘extremely bearish’ territory over the past day, flipping lower from ‘extremely bullish’ a week go. Chatter remained at ‘normal’ levels.

Past Social Media Posts Drive Meme Coin Rallies

Zhao, who has technically been given ‘meme lord’ status in the crypto community, has followers to track his social media posts for hints on which token may soar next. In February 2025, a simple post revealing the name of his pet, a Belgian Malinois named Broccoli, triggered the immediate creation of hundreds of "Broccoli" tokens. 

He famously added, "Let the best [coin] in the community win," acknowledging the speculative frenzy.

The most successful iteration, CZ’s Dog (BROCCOLI), achieved multi-million dollar market capitalization within hours. BROCCOLI’s price has since retreated 90% from its peak of $0.258. 

A similar rally happened with the BNB Meme SZN (SZN) token in October last year, which launched after Zhao expressed surprise at the existence of the token. "BNB meme SZN I didn't expect this at all. And people keep asking me to predict the future. Keep building,” he said in a post on X. The token surged 3,400% to a $15 million valuation before liquidity evaporated. Market data indicates that SZN’s price has since lost 99.2% of its value.

The most recent instance occurred with the Wo Ta Ma Lai Le (WTML) token, which gained traction last week after Zhao described certain meme-driven ideas as "sticky." WTML’s price climbed 400% within a day. While it has held its value better than previous cohorts, it’s currently down 10% from its record high.

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