Returning to X on Day 3, Luo Yonghao has already unleashed his true self

Original | Odaily (@OdailyChina)

Author | Golem (@web3_golem)

This week, two events sparked the most discussion among Chinese netizens on X (formerly Twitter): Trump's visit to China, and the return of Luo Yonghao, the original KOL of the Chinese internet, founder of Smartisan Technology, and the protagonist of the "True Repayment Saga."

Luo Yonghao's first post after returning to X on May 13

The account (X: @luoyonghao) was created by Luo Yonghao in April 2009 but was abandoned because he forgot the password. According to Odaily, the old account was revived because Luo Yonghao recently found the password again.

Gushing Openly in the "Sewer" is Probably Him

After recovering the account, Luo Yonghao began a high-intensity surfing spree. As of May 16, he had posted over 110 posts/replies within just three days. Luo Yonghao stated on X that his return was due to the company's overseas business needs and that he was legally using a VPN for work. On the same account, he also released the past three episodes of his video podcast "Luo Yonghao's Crossroads," featuring interviews with Cai Kangyong, Li Xiang, and TIM from Film Storm.

However, "serious work content" accounts for less than 3% of his new posts. The remaining posts mostly see Luo Yonghao letting loose, with topics ranging from genetics and relationships to the crypto circle, primarily consisting of replies to netizens.

Thanks to X's relaxed content moderation, "Old Luo's" trait of "directly refuting and clapping back" has been fully unleashed. Facing offensive comments, he retaliates in kind, as shown below...

These highly "human" and aggressive posts instantly boosted his account's popularity. Many netizens bluntly stated, "I just love watching Old Luo roast people." As of May 16, his follower count surged to 250,000 within three days.

But if Luo Yonghao considers the atmosphere of Simplified Chinese X a "quasi-sewer," why choose to swim in it? Was he driven away from other platforms, harboring unspeakable grievances? Is it genuinely to warm up for new overseas business, or is it merely a strategy to grow this account? Only he knows the answer.

Among his 100+ posts, the most dramatic and consequential was on May 15, when Luo Yonghao posted on X, calling out Binance founder CZ, demanding the removal of all "Luo Yonghao" meme coins.

“Rights Defense” Triggers “Absurd” Surge; Old Luo Doesn’t Get, and Doesn’t Want to Get, the Crypto Circle

In the crypto world, most meme coins are pure attention-grabbing tools. A typical industry playbook has long been established: whether it's a political event, entertainment news, tech breakthrough, or social hot topic, as long as it captures public attention, the "coin-launching groups" immediately issue related meme coins on-chain for speculators to trade, all competing on who "runs faster."

The return of one of the most famous KOLs from the early Chinese internet to X perfectly fits "attention economics." Almost simultaneously, a large number of identically named meme coins appeared on the BSC chain (Odaily note: Binance's public chain). To insiders, this is nothing unusual. But who is Luo Yonghao? He's not going to tolerate those exploiting his influence for "scams."

So, at 8:30 PM on May 15, following a netizen's suggestion, Luo Yonghao called out Binance founder CZ on X, demanding the removal of all "Luo Yonghao" meme coins from the Binance wallet.

Luo Yonghao called out CZ, demanding the delisting of "Luo Yonghao" tokens

Luo Yonghao clearly hadn't caught up with the speculative logic of the "modern crypto world." For meme players, "bad publicity is still publicity." Almost instantly, the market cap of the "Luo Yonghao" meme coin on the BSC chain surged past $1 million, peaking at $3 million before falling back below $500,000.

Seeing the token rise even after his denial, Luo Yonghao bluntly called them "stupid leeks" and dismissed the crypto space as a lunatic asylum.

His statement "a wallet is also a kind of Binance exchange" revealed another knowledge gap: asking the "spiritual leader" of Binance Wallet to delist a decentralized on-chain token—how exactly would that work?

The rules of the chain are immutable, but Binance is flexible. Since you can't erase the coin from the chain, you can block it on the front end.

After Luo Yonghao's call-out, Binance responded rapidly within half an hour, blocking "Luo Yonghao" in its platform search system. Users could no longer find related meme coins using those characters. Even if entering the meme coin contract directly, the name would be replaced by "***". Subsequently, Luo Yonghao retweeted Odaily's post, requesting Binance to also block the coin's avatar.

Luo Yonghao retweeted Odaily's post, asking Binance to also block the avatar

Following this, another major crypto exchange, OKX, also blocked the "Luo Yonghao" meme coin and its avatar on its wallet interface. Of course, users can still trade the related meme coins through native on-chain tools like GMGN.

Binance handled all this quietly, without issuing an announcement or explanation. Some players argue that such actions by Binance and other platforms show a lack of consideration for the on-chain community. Celebrity coins have existed in the crypto space for a long time, and none portrayed Luo Yonghao negatively. Does blocking the "Luo Yonghao" meme coin mean that all future identically named meme coins can be arbitrarily hidden by the person involved?

In response to Luo Yonghao's public call-out, CZ merely replied with one emoji, "😂". When Luo Yonghao asked again how to reasonably request an exchange to delist tokens, CZ did not respond further.

Luo Yonghao asking CZ how to reasonably request token delisting

This isn't Luo Yonghao's first interaction with the crypto world. Back in 2018, Justin Sun offered him an annual salary of 1 million yuan to be the spokesperson for the entrepreneurial spirit of TRON, which Luo Yonghao rejected.

On May 15, a netizen once again suggested Luo Yonghao join the crypto space. Luo responded that if he were shameless, he would have created an ICO to "harvest leeks" back in 2018 and bought a small island to retire on. He said many scammers were willing to give him coins back then, but he refused them all.

Luo Yonghao in 2019 saying he would also issue a coin

Not issuing a coin doesn't mean not trading it. He once invested 1 million yuan in BTC in 2018, making a massive profit of 30 million yuan, but still advised his employees to focus on their work and not trade crypto...

Cherish Luo Yonghao

Even now, some people suspect the account is fake, searching for various timeline inconsistencies. For instance, some netizens argued it couldn't be real because Luo Yonghao was live streaming on the evening of May 15, yet the X account was posting. Luo Yonghao retorted, calling them "stupid." Regardless of the account's authenticity, its personality traits perfectly match...

The reluctance to believe the account is real might also stem from the disbelief that, in this sensitive and "politically correct" online era, a public figure like Luo Yonghao can maintain such a strong sense of "being human." Too many public figures "isolate" themselves for self-preservation, relying on team-managed accounts to shield themselves from external harm. After all, not everyone can withstand the raging torrent of the online public opinion environment.

Luo Yonghao is real, so real that he is reckless. Last year's Xibei incident started when he ate at Xibei and gave his personal opinion that it was expensive, pre-made food that wasn't very good, leading to an uncontrollable escalation.

Since returning to X, his speech seems even less guarded and profound, often engaging in close-quarters verbal battles with detractors in the comments over trivial opinions—blunt, vulgar, and offensive.

But think about it, in this current era of rampant "AI slop" and everyone looking out for themselves, people are cleverer, but also more "machine-like."

On Luo Yonghao's X account, there is a long post of over 20,000 characters, detailing a conversation between him and AI about Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCI), the future of humanity, and high/low-dimensional intelligence. What struck me most was the discussion about love. Luo Yonghao dismissed his thoughts as the "whining" of a lowly life form, but the AI responded: It is precisely this low-level, irrational whining that constitutes the difference between humans as carbon-based life forms.

In my view, Luo Yonghao can at least inject a bit more authenticity into the current internet. Therefore, I urge him to protect this uniquely human "lowly whining" at all costs.