Liar, Liar, Contracts on Fire: CZ vs. Star Xu's Decade-Old Beef Gets a Memoir-Sparked Reboot

The crypto world's most passive-aggressive feud just dropped a new season. Binance founder Changpeng "CZ" Zhao and OKX founder Star Xu are at it again, with Xu publicly dubbing his rival a "habitual liar" in what can only be described as the blockchain equivalent of a messy family dinner argument—except everyone's wearing suits and the fortune cookies contain stock options.

The spark? CZ's freshly minted memoir apparently hit shelves and hit a nerve. Xu pounced like a degen spotting a 100x opportunity, dragging out grievances from 2015 when Zhao briefly graced OKCoin—Xu's exchange—with his presence before their spectacular falling out. Some beefs age like fine wine; others age like milk left out in the DeFi summer sun.

Speaking of aged controversies, at the heart of this drama sits a contract dispute involving early Bitcoin maximalist Roger Ver. Xu insists CZ has been spreading misinformation about the whole situation, and claims he's got receipts. Video evidence, no less. This is basically crypto court except the judge is Twitter and everyone's been doxxed.

"After spending four months in prison, he continues to make false statements to the world," Xu posted, with the energy of someone who's been waiting years to use that particular card. "A habitual liar never changes their nature." Cold. Methodical. Zero stars for PR, five stars for commitment to the bit.

CZ, never one to let an insult slide past like an unconfirmed transaction, pushed back in his memoir. He claims Xu suddenly accused him of forging contracts ages after anything relevant happened—because apparently, some accusations are just NFTs: minted