Changpeng Zhao, widely recognized as the co-founder of Binance (ticker: BNB), publicly cautioned his followers regarding the risks associated with investing in memecoins that arise as a direct consequence of his social media postings. Speaking on the platform X, Zhao highlighted the financial dangers for investors who impulsively buy into memecoins simply because these coins trend following his tweets, characterizing this behavior as one that leads to inevitable monetary losses.
In a candid X post, Zhao clarified his stance, emphasizing he is not inherently opposed to memecoins. Instead, his concern centers on the common tendency among investors to "ape" into newly launched coins without fundamental evaluation, predominantly those spawned from the buzz surrounding his online commentary. Zhao described his tweeting habit as casual and often involving "stupid not-so-funny jokes" without deliberate intent to create or endorse memecoins. This reveals his intent to dissociate his social media content from an official endorsement of any launched token.
Supporting his perspective, Zhao also engaged with community feedback, concurring with suggestions that investors consider holding Binance's native token, BNB, and engaging with the BNB Chain by contributing to its development ecosystem. Through this approach, investors can back the broader Binance infrastructure rather than pursuing highly speculative, volatile memecoins lacking formal support or inherent value.
The genesis of this advisory comes in the context of Zhao's earlier social media activity that historically ignited memecoin frenzies. Notably, in February 2025, Zhao shared images of his Belgian Malinois dog named Broccoli. This sparked a proliferation of tokens named after the pet on the BNB Chain platform, including one directly named "CZ's Dog (BROCCOLI)". Following its launch, this particular memecoin recorded a steep price decline exceeding 85%, illustrating the severe volatility and risk typically associated with such tokens.
Beyond this episode, Zhao expressed concerns in 2024 regarding the rapid multiplication of memecoins. He found this trend "a little weird" and urged the crypto community to focus its energies on building substantive blockchain applications instead of proliferating tokens with fleeting speculative appeal. Despite his visible presence in the memecoin conversation, Zhao has maintained that he himself has never launched any official tokens related to his personal brand or social media identity.
Regarding market performance, Binance Coin (BNB) holds a solid position in the cryptocurrency rankings. At the time of the latest data release, BNB was trading at $939.39, reflecting a 2.88% increase over the prior 24 hours. Year-to-date, BNB has appreciated by over 9%, marking it as one of the leading large-cap cryptocurrencies throughout 2025. This performance underscores its relative stability and acceptance within the market compared to the more turbulent memecoin sector.
Experts emphasize that investments in memecoins, particularly those initiated by high-profile individuals’ social media activities, are highly speculative endeavors with considerable risk. As these tokens frequently lack intrinsic utility or value, their pricing tends to be driven predominantly by market sentiment, social media influence, and short-term speculative trading behavior. Investors are therefore advised to exercise caution and due diligence before engaging with memecoins.