OKX founder and CEO Star Xu took goal at a rival “industry-leading firm” over the market dislocation tied to Oct. 10, arguing the episode did greater than set off a quick liquidation cascade — it inflicted “actual and lasting injury” on crypto’s credibility with customers and regulators.
OKX CEO Slams Binance As Crypto Nonetheless Digests Oct. 10
In a publish on X, Xu mentioned the {industry} has “underestimated the affect of 10/10,” framing the occasion as a belief shock quite than a routine volatility episode. Whereas he didn’t identify Binance or its founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) immediately, the timing and context of the remarks and subsequent dialogue on X tying Oct. 10 to a Binance-related incident made the goal clear to many readers.
Xu’s central declare was that main platforms ought to prioritize resilience and legitimacy, particularly when scrutiny from regulators and mainstream establishments is rising. “An industry-leading firm ought to concentrate on strengthening core infrastructure, constructing belief with world customers and regulators, and defending the long-term pursuits of the vast majority of crypto customers, setting an instance for others to comply with,” Xu wrote.
“As an alternative, some selected to pursue short-term features—repeatedly launching Ponzi-like schemes, amplifying a handful of ‘get-rich-quick’ narratives, and immediately or not directly manipulating the costs of low-quality tokens, drawing tens of millions of customers into belongings carefully tied to them.”
That critique broadens the Oct. 10 incident from a single failure occasion right into a sample: consideration seize by way of high-risk token promotion and narratives, quite than a gentle concentrate on market integrity. Xu argued that this method turns exchanges into site visitors machines optimized for “shortcuts,” on the expense of sturdy confidence.
This method doesn’t construct an {industry},” he added. “It erodes belief—and finally, everybody pays the worth.”
The publish landed as elements of crypto Twitter have been already revisiting Oct. 10 as a attainable inflection level for current market lull.
Folks have underestimated the affect of 10/10. The incident brought about actual and lasting injury to the {industry}.
An industry-leading firm ought to concentrate on strengthening core infrastructure, constructing belief with world customers and regulators, and defending the long-term pursuits of… https://t.co/DIU57u8utU
— Star (@star_okx) January 28, 2026
X account CryptosRus cited a Cathie Wooden’s interview the place she described the final “2–3 months” as an “aftershock” from an Oct. 10 “flash crash” tied to “a Binance software program glitch” that “pressured ~$28B of deleveraging throughout crypto.” In that framing, bitcoin absorbed the brunt “as a result of it’s probably the most liquid asset,” and the pressured promoting is “largely accomplished,” shifting the market’s focus again to cycle positioning.
Some {industry} figures responded by framing the dispute as one other spherical in centralized alternate rivalry. Moonrock Capital founder Simon Dedic wrote: “OKX attacking Binance. One shady CEX attacking the opposite shady CEX for extracting much more worth than they do. So long as this combat prices at the least one in every of them market share, that’s a internet optimistic for the {industry}.”
OKX attacking Binance.
One shady CEX attacking the opposite shady CEX for extracting much more worth than they do.
So long as this combat prices at the least one in every of them market share, that’s a internet optimistic for the {industry}. https://t.co/nCFTz0Kinc
— Simon Dedic (@sjdedic) January 28, 2026
Others used the second to distinction opaque venues with on-chain alternate options. The Rollup’s CEO Andy C mentioned “Binance is crooked and opaque,” arguing that “Hyperliquid is open, permissionless finance for all.” Flood, CEO of Fullstrack.commerce, went additional, writing that crypto “won’t ever have a really nice period and attain mainstream adoption so long as Binance is the dominant alternate.”
Binance is crooked and opaque.
Hyperliquid is open, permissionless finance for all. There’s one winner right here. https://t.co/o1Mcx2augA
— Andy (@andyyy) January 28, 2026
At press time, CZ had not publicly responded to the allegations, whereas BNB confirmed no rapid market response.
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