Changpeng Zhao has pushed back against allegations of binance price manipulation, arguing that October’s sudden moves were driven by macroeconomic news rather than exchange activity.
CZ rejects accusations over October 10 crash
Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, known as CZ, has firmly denied that Binance played any role in manipulating Bitcoin prices during the October 10 market crash, which triggered about $20 billion in liquidations. He said the sharp decline followed global tariff announcements and was not caused by the exchange‘s systems or trading behavior.
Speaking in a recent AMA session, CZ responded to users who blamed the exchange for the sudden sell-off on October 10. However, he described those accusations as misleading and incorrect, stressing that the timing of the drop lined up with major tariff headlines that rattled wider financial markets.
Moreover, CZ argued that the sequence of events shows the crash was linked to macroeconomic news, not technical failures or internal actions at Binance. He insisted that the exchange’s infrastructure functioned normally throughout the volatility.
Binance says it does not trade to move markets
CZ also emphasized that Binance does not trade cryptocurrencies in-house to profit from price swings or influence market direction. According to him, the company views itself as a neutral provider of trading infrastructure, rather than a proprietary trading firm seeking to benefit from volatility.
“We don’t buy or sell crypto to make money from price changes,” he said, rejecting claims that the exchange gains from sharp market moves. That said, he also dismissed rumors that either Binance or he personally profited from trading during the October crash.
CZ reiterated that the platform’s core function is to offer services for users to buy and sell digital assets. Moreover, he underlined that any suggestion that internal desks actively speculate on price movements runs contrary to how the business is structured and supervised.
Bitcoin market size makes manipulation unrealistic
Addressing ongoing bitcoin price manipulation rumors, CZ argued that the idea that a single exchange or actor could meaningfully steer the market is unrealistic. He noted that Bitcoin‘s total market value is now close to $2 trillion, making it extremely costly for anyone to attempt to move prices at scale.
To significantly shift the price, CZ said, an entity would need to risk hundreds of billions of dollars, something he believes no rational participant would do. “No one in their right mind would do that,” he remarked, adding that he does not know anyone “on the planet” who is willing or able to try to manipulate Bitcoin in this way.
Furthermore, CZ argued that the broad, global distribution of holdings across exchanges, funds, and individual investors makes coordinated manipulation even less plausible. Market depth and liquidity, he suggested, limit the impact any single platform can have.
Regulatory oversight and compliance at Binance
CZ also highlighted that Binance now operates as a regulated entity within the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), subject to close scrutiny from local and international authorities. This adgm regulation binance oversight, he said, significantly reduces the possibility of any abusive activity on the platform.
According to CZ, regulators and compliance teams, including U.S.-based monitors, routinely review trading flows and systems. Moreover, he explained that all activity on the exchange is logged and can be examined, making deliberate binance price manipulation both detectable and incompatible with its obligations.
He added that independent binance compliance monitors review how the platform operates, further constraining any attempt to engage in unfair practices. Because of this multilayered supervision, CZ argued, all trades are subject to oversight that would quickly expose improper behavior.
Tariffs, macro news, and the October crash
Returning to the October 10 sell-off, CZ linked the steep declines across crypto markets to broader crypto market tariff announcements. He said the timing of the Bitcoin move mirrored reactions in equities and other risk assets after governments revealed new tariff measures.
However, he rejected the narrative that the binance october market crash was caused by exchange-specific problems or hidden liquidation cascades initiated internally. Instead, he framed the event as part of a wider repricing of risk triggered by global policy headlines.
That said, CZ acknowledged that high leverage and concentrated positions across the crypto ecosystem can amplify volatility when macro shocks hit. He maintained nonetheless that exchanges like Binance are infrastructure providers, not directional traders seeking to push markets.
Ongoing debate over market integrity
The debate over binance does not trade as a market participant versus an infrastructure provider continues to play out among traders and analysts. Some critics remain suspicious of large exchanges’ influence, while others point to deep liquidity and public order books as safeguards.
Moreover, recent scrutiny of bitcoin and derivatives venues has sharpened focus on transparency, audit trails, and regulatory coordination. CZ, for his part, continues to maintain that binance price manipulation is neither feasible at scale nor compatible with the firm’s regulatory and operational constraints.
In summary, CZ has framed the October 10 crash as a macro-driven event linked to tariff news, while underlining Binance’s regulatory status, compliance monitoring, and non-trading posture as key reasons why deliberate manipulation would be both irrational and unsustainable.
Source: https://en.cryptonomist.ch/2026/02/04/binance-price-manipulation-cz-october/
