The relationship between Binance and FTX has long been one of the most debated rivalries in crypto. Now, Changpeng Zhao (CZ) is offering one of his most detailed public accounts yet.

CZ describes how cooperation turned into competition well before FTX’s 2022 collapse.

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CZ Lifts the Curtain on Binance’s Secretive Break With FTX

Speaking on the All-In Podcast, the former Binance CEO traced the relationship back to early 2019, when he first met Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), then running Alameda Research.

“Uh, I think I first met him in January 2019 in one of the Singapore conferences Binance organized. I think FTX did not exist at the time… Sam… was running Alameda,” CZ said, recalling that Alameda was then a major trading client on Binance and relations were initially friendly.

According to CZ, Alameda and the future FTX team soon approached Binance with proposals to collaborate on a derivatives platform. Several offers were made over time, including a joint venture structure that would have favored Binance.

Eventually, in late 2019, Binance agreed to invest.

“Yeah… we invested in them only 20% as equity at some point, and then we exited a year… later… we didn’t stay there for very long,” CZ said.

The deal included a token swap involving BNB and FTT, and Binance became a minority shareholder. CZ emphasized that:

• He remained a passive investor throughout the relationship
• Chose not to request financial statements because both firms operated competing futures businesses.

“Because of the competitive nature in the businesses… I never really… ask them for financial statements… I’m a very passive investor. So when I invest, I don’t get involved in their business,” he said.

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Binance-FTX Tensions Beneath the Surface

Despite the early cooperation, CZ said relations deteriorated quickly. Reportedly, he began hearing reports that SBF was criticizing Binance in policy and regulatory circles in Washington.

“And then almost as soon as we did that deal, I kept hearing from my friends… SBF badmouthing us in the Washington circles,” CZ said.

He also described frustration over hiring practices, alleging that FTX recruited Binance staff by offering dramatically higher salaries. Allegedly, FTX would then use those hires to approach Binance’s VIP clients with competing offers.

While CZ said he attempted to maintain a cooperative tone publicly and even agreed to appear jointly at industry events, he suggested the rivalry was already intensifying behind the scenes.

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Why Binance Exited

By early 2021, FTX was raising capital at valuations reportedly reaching $32 billion. CZ said Binance had contractual veto rights over future funding rounds but chose not to exercise them.

“So… we said… why don’t we exit, actually?” CZ recalled, explaining that Binance preferred to compete freely rather than remain a shareholder in a fast-growing rival.

The exit was finalized in July 2021, roughly a year and a half before FTX collapsed in November 2022.

“This is like a full year and a half before they had issues… at the time we didn’t know,” he said, rejecting claims that Binance exited because of inside knowledge. “That’s categorically not true.”

FTX Collapse and Its Aftermath

FTX ultimately failed after revelations that customer funds had been misused to cover losses at Alameda Research, triggering a liquidity crisis and bankruptcy.

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Binance’s decision in November 2022 to liquidate its FTT holdings accelerated a bank run. However, subsequent investigations and court proceedings concluded that the core cause of the collapse was internal fraud and mismanagement.

CZ declined to comment extensively on ongoing legal disputes, including efforts by the FTX bankruptcy estate to recover funds from the 2021 exit. However, he reiterated that Binance had no visibility into FTX’s internal finances while it was a shareholder.

Taken together, CZ’s account portrays the Binance–FTX relationship not as a sudden breakdown but as a gradual unraveling. If his remarks are any guide, the relationship was marked by early cooperation, growing rivalry, and a strategic exit long before the crisis that reshaped the crypto industry.

SBF did not immediately respond to BeInCrypto’s request for comment about CZ’s claims.

Ethereum (ETH) has fallen 6.6% in the last 24 hours, trading around $1,947, as broader crypto markets continue to navigate volatility and macroeconomic headwinds.

Yet amidst the price turbulence, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong is pointing to a surprising source of optimism: retail investor resilience.

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Retail “Diamond Hands” Hold Strong Despite Ethereum’s 7% Drop

Armstrong highlighted that, beyond weathering the market downturn, Coinbase’s retail users are actively buying the dip, resulting in net increases in BTC and ETH holdings.

“Retail users on Coinbase have been very resilient during these market conditions, according to our data,” Armstrong wrote. “They’ve been buying the dip.

According to the Coinbase executive, they have seen a native unit increase for retail users across BTC and ETH on the exchange.

Citing diamond hands, Armstrong says most of Coinbase’s customers had native unit balances in February equal to or greater than their balances in December.

The Coinbase CEO framed this trend as a bullish counter-narrative to the current market gloom. While Bitcoin has pulled back toward the $68,000–$69,000 range and Ethereum has seen a 7% drop to levels below $2,000, retail investors are demonstrating conviction rather than panic.

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The “diamond hands” phenomenon, where users maintain or increase their crypto holdings despite drawdowns, suggests a maturing retail base that may help stabilize prices and underpin long-term adoption.

Mixed Views Emerge as Retail Conviction Faces Market Risks

However, not everyone shares Armstrong’s optimism. Some critics argue that holding through sharp declines merely reflects significant drawdowns rather than true resilience.

Beyond holding behavior, community members are also voicing broader policy and market access concerns.

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“Retail users deserve access to yield on stablecoins and the reversal of the accredited investor law,” commented Wendy O.

This suggests that expanded DeFi participation and yield opportunities could further strengthen retail confidence.

The context is important, coming days after Coinbase’s Q4 2025 earnings revealed declining trading volumes amid an 11% drop in broader crypto market capitalization.

Yet the exchange continued to see inflows of native units from retail users, hinting at a floor of accumulation that may cushion the market during bearish stretches.

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Historical crypto cycles show that periods of sustained retail conviction often precede rebounds, as retail holders absorb volatility while institutional participants adopt more cautious postures.

Therefore, while Armstrong’s message reassures the crypto community and subtly defends Coinbase’s performance amid a turbulent quarter, it also shows that the retail market is changing from short-term speculation to longer-term accumulation.

While prices may remain choppy in the near term, these patterns suggest that retail investors are increasingly acting as stabilizing forces in the market, potentially serving as a catalyst for recovery when broader sentiment shifts.

As Epstein-linked revelations emerged, new data show crypto payments to suspected trafficking services surged 85% globally in 2025.

As global attention remains fixed on the continued release and scrutiny of emails and documents tied to sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, attention has turned to how exploitation networks operate and move money.

Against this backdrop, a new report from Chainalysis disclosed that cryptocurrency flows to suspected human trafficking-related services surged sharply in 2025. Transaction volumes reached hundreds of millions of dollars, up 85% year-over-year. While the figures quantify financial activity, the report stressed that the true cost of these crimes is borne by victims, not balance sheets.

Trafficking-Linked Crypto Activity

The increase in crypto-linked trafficking activity has occurred alongside the expansion of Southeast Asia–based scam compounds, online gambling operations, and Chinese-language money laundering and guarantee networks, many of which operate openly on Telegram and form a tightly connected illicit ecosystem with global reach.

Unlike cash-based systems, blockchain transparency helps investigators to trace these flows, thereby creating opportunities to identify and disrupt networks that would otherwise remain hidden. Blockchain analytics company Chainalysis tracked four primary categories of suspected cryptocurrency-facilitated trafficking: Telegram-based “international escort” services suspected of trafficking people; “labor placement” agents linked to kidnapping and forced labor in scam compounds; prostitution networks; and vendors of child sexual abuse material (CSAM).

Payment behavior differs across categories. “International escort” services and prostitution networks rely almost entirely on stablecoins as they prioritize price stability and ease of conversion, but CSAM vendors have historically favored Bitcoin. However, its dominance is declining as alternative Layer 1 networks and privacy tools emerge.

Escort services were found to be deeply integrated with Chinese-language money laundering networks that rapidly convert stablecoins into local currencies and reduce exposure to asset freezes by centralized issuers. Transaction-size analysis points to professionalized operations as nearly 49% of “international escort” service transfers surpass $10,000, which is consistent with organized enterprises operating at scale.

Meanwhile, prostitution networks cluster in the $1,000-$10,000 range. These networks often use structured pricing and customer-service models, advertising standardized rates across major East Asian cities, which in turn produce identifiable on-chain patterns useful for detection.

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CSAM Crypto Economy

CSAM operations reveal a different structure. It was found that roughly half of transactions are under $100, and there is a shift toward subscription-based models that generate predictable revenue streams. In 2025, Chainalysis observed growing use of Monero and instant exchangers to launder CSAM proceeds, in addition to an emerging overlap between CSAM networks and sadistic online extremism communities, where abuse material is monetized through cryptocurrency payments.

One major CSAM site identified in July 2025 alone used more than 5,800 crypto addresses and generated over $530,000 since 2022. The report also stated that trafficking-linked services leverage US-based infrastructure for scale and legitimacy, while operators often remain overseas to limit personal exposure.

XRP price surged sharply, nearly posting an 18.7% intraday gain before surrendering half of that advance. The token now trades near $1.53 after closing with a 9% rise. 

Premature profit-taking by holders capped momentum and may influence XRP price direction in the coming sessions.

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XRP Selling Continues

Exchange net position change data indicates that selling among XRP holders remains consistent. Green bars on the metric show continued inflows to exchanges, which typically signal intent to sell. This steady movement suggests holders are offloading XRP during price rallies.

Outflows continue to dominate net flows despite the recent surge. Investors appear eager to secure profits after weeks of volatility. Such behavior often suppresses sustained breakouts and reinforces consolidation near resistance levels.

Want more token insights like this? Sign up for Editor Harsh Notariya’s Daily Crypto Newsletter here.

The MVRV Long/Short Difference highlights the dominance of XRP short-term holder profits. This metric measures the distribution of unrealized gains between long-term and short-term investors. Current low readings indicate that short-term holders hold a larger share of profits.

Short-term holders typically react quickly to price increases. Their tendency to sell at the first sign of gains likely contributed to the rally’s abrupt halt.

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As long as STH profits dominate, upward momentum may encounter repeated resistance.

XRP Price May Face Some Resistance

XRP nearly recorded an 18.7% rise during the latest trading session before settling at a 9% gain. The long wick and rapid reduction in upside reflect early profit booking. Such behavior highlights fragile bullish conviction despite renewed interest.

The immediate objective is securing $1.51 as a support floor. XRP trades slightly above that level at $1.53.

Resistance near $1.62 may cap gains, and renewed selling from short-term holders could pull the price back toward $1.36.

If distribution slows and demand stabilizes, XRP could regain upward traction.

A decisive move above $1.62 would strengthen the technical structure. Sustained buying could drive the price toward $1.76, invalidating the bearish thesis and reinforcing recovery momentum.

The lack of privacy for onchain transactions is one of the biggest hurdles to the mass adoption of cryptocurrencies for payments and a medium of exchange, according to Changpeng Zhao, co-founder of the Binance cryptocurrency exchange.

The executive commonly known as “CZ” said the lack of privacy prevents businesses and institutions from paying expenses in crypto. He gave this example: 

“Lack of Privacy may be the missing link for crypto payments adoption. Imagine a company pays employees in crypto onchain. With the current state of crypto, you can pretty much see how much everyone in the company is paid by clicking the ‘from’ address.”

In a previous conversation with investor and host of the All-In Podcast Chamath Palihapitiya, CZ also cited physical security concerns as a reason why onchain transparency is a risk to users. The comments follow a revival of privacy and the cypherpunk ethos in crypto.

Cypherpunk ideology is central to the birth of cryptocurrencies, peer-to-peer digital money that can be transferred without centralized intermediaries, and the encryption of online communication to shield messages from surveillance.

Related: ‘No privacy’ CBDCs will come, warns billionaire Ray Dalio

Encrypt everything: the rise of onchain privacy

Businesses and institutions will not embrace crypto, Web3 platforms, or blockchain if they cannot shield their transactions, Avidan Abitbol, the former Business Development Specialist for the Kaspa cryptocurrency project, told Cointelegraph.

Transaction data contains critical information about corporate workflows, trade secrets, business relationships and can provide clues about a company’s overall financial health to competitors, he said.

These issues can lead to corporate theft, negatively impact corporations during business negotiations and increase the threat of an institution being targeted by scammers, Abitbol added.