Cryptocurrencies’ chaotic side just took another dark turn, and Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, or CZ, isn’t holding back.
Calling memecoins “weird,” he took aim last month at platforms like Pump.fun, a memecoin launchpad now notorious for leveraging violence and dark content to boost token hype.
Not that CZ’s anti-memecoin — he’s just pro-building “real” blockchain use cases. It’s a stance from someone who’s seen the consequences of unchecked crypto chaos firsthand, including his four-month stint in jail this year for violating US anti-money laundering rules.
CZ’s influence on crypto is viewed as next only to Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto’s. And his criticism highlights what many already think: memecoins are often nothing more than get-rich-quick schemes, offering zero utility or value.
Read more: Is CZ back? Or is CZ BACK, back?.
The divide
The memecoin space is now worth $129 billion and defenders like memecoin analyst Murad Mahmudov argue that the best memecoins often outperform altcoins in terms of practical use cases.
Mahmudov does not sugarcoat it. Individual investors have never cared about technology; they care about making money, he said in September. Memecoins are simpler, cheaper and often more fun.
For young investors priced out of Bitcoin and Ether, memecoins like Dogecoin, Shiba Inu and Pepe offer a shot at life-changing returns. Remember the trader who flipped $17 into $ 3 million?
Read more: Altcoins take center stage as BTC catches its breath
Real, for real
Yat Siu, chairman of Web3 firm Animoca Brands, sees memecoins as more than a financial gamble — they are community builders, he tells MONIIFY.
“Without the community, the best technology infrastructure is worthless, right?”
Siu likens memecoins to early social media: messy at first but with the potential to become something more structured and impactful in time.
Still, no one’s ignoring the risks. Mahmudov frames memecoins as a symptom of crypto’s failure to provide accessible, equitable opportunities, as a counterweight to a broken system.
For now, memecoins aren’t going anywhere. They’re the wild, unpredictable edge of an industry still figuring itself out.
And CZ isn’t looking to end the party. Invest in whatever you want, he says. He just wants the industry to build something real alongside the memes.
Because if memecoins don’t evolve, the question won’t be whether they can survive, but whether the crypto industry can survive them.
