No Enemies: OKX 'Star Xu Implicitly Critiques Binance's CZ for Meme Hype?

1. The Second Spring of Meme Coin: The Rise of the Chinese Market

If Dogecoin and Shiba Inu in 2021 were the first enlightenment of global meme coins, then the "Chinese meme craze" in 2025 was undoubtedly the second cultural explosion.

In just a few weeks, Chinese meme projects represented by "Binance Life" emerged on the BSC chain, and their market value skyrocketed hundreds of times from obscurity; countless retail investors shouted "Binance Life, realize your dreams in the crypto" in group chats and social platforms; Twitter and Telegram were filled with jokes, screenshots of getting rich quickly, and new memes.

What’s even more interesting is that the trigger of this meme craze was not an anonymous project party, but a seemingly harmless greeting from Binance’s senior management.

Binance co-founder He Yi post on social media, "I wish you a Binance life," was interpreted by netizens as a "Binance signal." Immediately, a large number of projects took advantage of the momentum and launched online, fueling the sentiment and instantly igniting the hype.

Some people became rich overnight, while others lost everything. But no matter what the outcome, this meme wave has reignited the long-suppressed impulse of “creating memes and dreams” in the Chinese crypto community.

2. From “Binance Life” to “Emotional Economy”: CZ and He Yi’s Fueling of the Flame

Looking back over the past few years, CZ(CZ) has always been cautious and reluctant to endorse any single coin. However, in 2025, his attitude began to subtly change:
He repeatedly forwarded or liked meme projects on the BNB chain on social media, occasionally commenting with sentences like "the community is very creative" and "Web3 needs more fun."

Such understated remarks are enough to ignite a powder keg at a time when the market is extremely lacking in hot spots.
He He Yi’s words “I wish you a happy Binance life” are more like the “emotional pusher” behind CZ’s silence - she understands the Chinese social context, knows the destructive power of “playing with memes”, and is familiar with how the community creates secondary works.

As a result, Binance has invisibly become the spiritual center of the "Chinese meme movement."
Regardless of whether the official is in charge, the Binance brand and meme coins have been closely bound together by community logic.

This is a kind of "intentional unintentional":
Neither directly admit nor completely deny.
You can enjoy the traffic dividend and avoid liability risks.

This is a classic CZ tactic:
“Exploit market sentiment, but never admit to creating it.”

3. Star Xu’s “Cold Water”: From Diss to Innuendo

Just when the emotions of “Binance Life” were at their peak, OKX founder Star Xu posted a message on X, his tone calm but with undercurrents:

“I’m really happy for everyone when I see some users reaching their climax when trading ‘Mou’an Life’, ‘Mou’an Customer Service’, and ‘Mou’an King’ on the OKX wallet.”

The "Mou An" between the lines does not need to be named, as it has its own meaning.
Then, he changed the subject—

"These phenomena remind me of stories about some 'pyramid schemes'... They replace rationality with faith and emotion, and replace construction with downline development."

As soon as these words came out, the circle immediately boiled over.
Some people praised him for "speaking in the right direction," while others called him "sour."
But regardless of his stance, Star Xu has indeed touched the nerves of Binance and the meme craze this time.

He continued:

"Why don't we promote 'OKX Life'? Because we believe that blockchain is a technology-driven financial revolution, not an emotion-driven money-scaling game."

This sentence is almost a direct questioning of the CZ model:
Binance relies on traffic guidance, sentiment manipulation, and meme-based narratives to expand community popularity;
OKX chooses to be rational and restrained, emphasizing "construction rather than performance."

This is not a simple post, but an open confrontation about "faith and reason".

4. Old scores are hard to settle: The ten-year feud between Star Xu and CZ

To understand the sharpness behind Star Xu's tweet, we must go back ten years.

In 2014, CZ briefly served as the technical director of OKCoin (the predecessor of OKX).
Just a few months later, he resigned in anger, accusing the company of withholding wages and exaggerating trading volumes;
OKCoin hit back at him, accusing him of "false statements" and "technical exaggeration."
This rift made headlines in the Chinese crypto that year.

Two years later, CZ founded Binance, which soared to fame.
OKX experienced regulatory shocks, restructuring, and international expansion, and ultimately managed to stabilize its position.

The two have since parted ways:
One focuses on "speed, traffic and globalization",
One that adheres to "compliance, tools and long-termism".

Their ideological conflict runs through almost the entire ten-year narrative of the crypto industry.
Now, they are fighting against each other again at the crest of the meme craze, which has a certain sense of fate that "they are not enemies but enemies".

5. Faith Economy vs. Instrumental Rationality: The Ultimate Divergence Between the Two Approaches

Looking at the paths of CZ and Star Xu side by side, you’ll find they represent two completely different crypto philosophies:

In the short term, the Binance route is more likely to create explosive points and wealth effects;
But in the long run, the OKX model may be more in line with regulatory trends and institutional trust paths.

Therefore, Star Xu's "sarcasm" this time is not just a tit-for-tat response, but more like setting the tone for OKX's brand direction:
We don't chase emotions, we only pursue order.

6. The next three rounds: the next battlefield for the two giants to compete

This "meme storm" is just an episode in the long-term competition between the two companies, but the future battlefield is already taking shape.

1. The battle for discourse power <br>Who can lead the next wave of Web3 community narrative?
   CZ controls the traffic entrance, while Star Xu holds the infrastructure; the battle between the two will determine the focus of Chinese Web3 public opinion.

2. Coin listing rhythm and compliance barriers <br>When the meme coin bubble bursts, the platform's responsibility will be magnified.
   OKX has already drawn a clear line in the sand through a statement, and Binance will face trust challenges if it is seen as a "wave pusher."

3. The battle for Web3 application landing <br>Xu Mingxing mentioned CeDeFi, Magic Spend, and Passkey many times in the article - this implies that OKX's technology route has extended to real financial applications.
   In contrast, if Binance remains at the emotional economic level, it may face the risk of "overdrawing heat".

VII. Conclusion: The future of Web3 is not bound by faith

Star Xu ended his speech by writing:

“Not your key, not your money” is not just a slogan, but a belief we always uphold.

This is his calmest response to the emotionality in the crypto.
In this era where "everyone makes memes and everyone makes money", Star Xu chose to be the one who "doesn't make a fuss";
CZ, on the other hand, is still manipulating traffic and creating trends on the global stage.

This battle is not just a contest between two exchanges.
It is also a civilizational disagreement about faith and rationality, traffic and construction, emotion and order .

In the next few years, perhaps Chinese memes will continue to be popular.
But one day, the market will tell——
Who is creating myths, who is building the future.

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