The crypto billionaire and former CEO of Binance has bashed the sale of so-called “CZ-followed” accounts, where some X accounts are using his social media interactions for “digital status currency.”

Binance founder Changpeng Zhao has warned social media users against purchasing X accounts that he follows, threatening to unfollow any that are sold. 

Zhao posted on X that users should not buy handles he follows. “I will unfollow any sold accounts. If you see an account for sale, let me know. DM, tweet, notify interns,” he wrote on Monday. The ex-Binance CEO added that he follows accounts randomly because they are “supportive, informative, positive energy people in the community.”

Selling ‘followed by CZ’ accounts for 3,000 USDT

Zhao made the caution, reacting to a post from an influencer on X, who noted that “Big Cousin,” a nickname used by the Chinese-speaking crypto community for CZ, had started unfollowing several accounts recently. The influencer said it was “a good thing” because some users had “done bad things under the banner of being followed by CZ.”

The influencer added that in 2022, an account followed by CZ could fetch up to 20,000 USDT, with some buyers reportedly paying around 3,000 USDT for a handle that later lost the coveted follow. 

“If it’s just for that ‘been followed by CZ’ kind of celebrity-chasing psychology, it can still be understood,” the influencer wrote, “but the most worrying thing is these accounts falling into the hands of criminals, being used for scams and rug pulls.”

Asian-based journalist Linwan had confirmed that Zhao had unfollowed 384 accounts in a single day on November 8. 

“Before November, CZ’s unfollows were sporadic, but on November 8, he unfollowed over three hundred accounts, which feels like a systematic purge of his follow list.”

According to Linwan’s investigations, the mass unfollowing was on specified categories of users, including projects Binance had exited, investment fund managers with differing views, and industry media that had been bad-mouthing the exchange during its regulatory battles, on top of Zhao’s recent US presidential pardon.

384 accounts purged by CZ in November, reasons not clear

Among the accounts CZ removed from his following list were projects previously supported by Binance, including BakerySwap, TopGoal, Bundle, KOI, CommEX, and ReachMe. 

CommEX had taken over Binance’s operations in Russia after the company’s market exit, but Zhao is seemingly distancing himself from Binance’s legacy assets or its former regional ties.

The “purge” also included notable industry names such as Olaf Carlson-Wee of Polychain Capital, Scott Lewis of DeFi Pulse, Darryl Wang of Tangent, Tushar Aggarwal of Persistence, and Howard Yuan of Shard Capital. 

According to Lian, these individuals had recently advocated for “multi-centralized trading” and reduced dependence on Binance, ideas that may have clashed with Zhao’s positions.

Media figures like Mira Christanto of Messari, Angie Lau of Forkast, and analyst Trista Kelley were also among those unfollowed, alongside former Binance executives Ling Zhang, the exchange’s former investment director, and Cobo founder Lü Xujun.

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