CZ Zhao Targeted by Gray Industry

Original Author: Nicky, Foresight News

Binance founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) has recently encountered another "trouble."

In a photo circulating on platform X, CZ is seen standing in front of an event backdrop alongside a user who claimed to be a "long-term supporter of BNB." However, CZ quickly noticed anomalies: he never owned that blue-purple shirt, that backdrop does not exist, and the resolution of the figures is inconsistent, clearly indicating a composite image. Furthermore, the original photo for another manipulated image was a group photo of CZ with Aster CEO Leonard.

More intriguingly, this account, boasting 863,000 followers, had already blocked CZ.

On February 4th, CZ publicly posted a detailed breakdown of the image's inconsistencies, pointing out a clear discontinuity in the account's historical trajectory: its early content was almost entirely unrelated to crypto, but it later shifted to focusing on BNB-related activities, lacking a reasonable transition in identity. In his view, such long-established accounts built upon fabricated materials are not merely pranks but resemble targeted image manipulation with a preset agenda.

CZ stated that he does not know the account holder nor remembers when he blocked them, but in hindsight, that action was correct. Regarding the previously circulated so-called "lawyer's letter," he initially thought the fabrication was so obvious it didn't require clarification, yet he still saw some media outlets reposting and reporting on the related images. He warned that failing to distinguish even obvious Photoshop or AI-generated content could ultimately lead to paying a price.

Simultaneously, some bloggers in the Chinese community have also discovered that numerous accounts in the English-speaking sphere, with names containing Chinese characters and nicknames including "🔸BNB," are posting similarly styled AI-generated group photos and uniformly publishing content like "deactivating account."

Binance co-founder He Yi commented on social media: Next time someone fabricates a story, at least find a real name on LinkedIn. Who would send both a lawyer's letter and a compliance notice simultaneously? Those who believe such content need to improve their risk assessment capabilities. Regarding FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt) narratives, she said she is viewing everything that happens through a positive lens, suggesting it might even increase Binance's visibility among certain demographics.

Meanwhile, since January 15th, Bitcoin has retreated from around $97,000 to below $71,000 on February 5th, a drop exceeding 26%; BNB fell from $948 to $696 during the same period, a similar decline. On February 5th, the Crypto Fear & Greed Index dropped to 12, entering the "Extreme Fear" zone.

The Crypto Top Influencer in the Crosshairs

Unlike text, images are more effective at creating a "sense of connection." A photo with a well-known industry figure is often subconsciously interpreted as "having had contact," "being on the same side," or "having received some form of endorsement." The dissemination efficiency of such materials often surpasses lengthy arguments because it lowers the barrier to understanding and weakens the fact-checking process.

So, why would someone repeatedly create such images?

One possibility is to build a "credible persona" for an account. In the crypto community, traffic and trust are often highly intertwined. An account that appears to have "intersected with industry celebrities" is more likely to gain attention, shares, and private message interactions. Once such a persona is established, it becomes easier to lower users' guard for subsequent actions, whether promoting projects, shilling tokens, or guiding users into community groups.

Some bloggers noted that scammers simply add "BNB" after a name; gaining a retweet from CZ could bring hundreds of thousands of units of traffic, subsequently leading to substantial economic gains.

On January 28th, CZ posted that recent discussions surrounding him showed signs of疑似 organized舆论 manipulation. He pointed out that some previously inactive or unrelated accounts were集中 publishing highly similar content within a short timeframe, exhibiting clear replication and扩散 characteristics. The overall behavior resembled systematic operation more than a naturally formed discussion atmosphere, hinting that the motivations behind these actions might not be单纯.

Another, more gray-area path is laying the groundwork for subsequent fraudulent activities. In common crypto scam chains, scammers often need to first establish trust through a "professional background" or "industry connections," then gradually引导 users into private communication scenarios. Group photos, event pictures, and so-called "offline meeting" records are frequently used materials. The emergence of AI has simply transformed these materials from "difficult to forge" to "mass-producible."

Additionally, some behaviors cannot be ruled out as related to KOL account-building logic. Currently, personal IP remains one of the fastest paths for traffic growth. By creating visual evidence like "having participated in industry events" or "being in the same frame as知名人士," some new accounts can quickly shed their "anonymous身份" and gain initial attention. In the流量 economy, even if the trust built this way is not solid, it can be enough to support short-term monetization.

Currently, on platforms like Douyin (TikTok) and WeChat Video Channels, content related to CZ has garnered over 100,000 likes at maximum. In such a流量 environment, if someone uses AI-generated photos, videos, or other materials to伪造 interactions or private dealings with CZ to attract attention and build trust, it could easily mislead大量普通 users, leading to actual financial losses.

AI hasn't created new motivations; it has amplified existing流量 logic and gray-area profit paths. From this perspective, photoshopping名人 images doesn't necessarily指向 the same goal, but they often share similar传播 logic: leveraging名人 symbols to shorten the time cost of building trust.

In such an environment, what a group photo can证明 may be far less than we imagine. And before clicking share, asking one more question—"What is the source of this image?"—has反而 become the most朴素, yet increasingly scarce, skill in the AI era.