How are the people following CZ doing now? - ChainCatcher

Author: zhou, ChainCatcher

Retail investors fear being cut off the most, but they are even more afraid of missing out. CZ stands at the intersection of these two emotions; a single statement can double someone's investment overnight or bring it back to zero. The intense volatility in CZ-related assets is everywhere, as if once they connect with him, the price movements deviate from the fundamentals and instead respond to emotional factors.

CZ is selective about the cryptocurrencies he publicly buys, yet each time he makes a move, he can stir the market. On November 2, CZ posted that he personally bought ASTER on Binance, sharing a screenshot of the on-chain transfer (2.09 million tokens, approximately $1.9 million). The market quickly ignited, with ASTER rising from $0.91 to $1.26, an increase of over 30%.

According to on-chain analyst Yu Jin's monitoring, a certain whale bought ASTER on CZ and then shorted ASTER worth 50.62 million dollars at a price of 1.2 dollars. Currently, with the price of ASTER falling, the short position has an unrealized profit of over 12 million dollars; while CZ's previous purchase price was about 0.913 dollars, which is in an unrealized loss position.

This is not CZ's first time “igniting” ASTER. During the ASTER TGE in September, he forwarded posts to promote it, and ASTER surged from 0.02 to 2.42 USD, with an increase of nearly 7000%, becoming the focus of the market.

On October 30, ASTER taught the market a lesson: a certain KOL posted that CZ's associated wallet sold 35 million ASTER, causing the price to quickly drop by 16.8%, with on-chain liquidation exceeding 4 million USD. Two hours later, Lookonchain and EmberCN pointed out that it was an internal transfer from Binance's hot wallet, and CZ also retorted “fake news,” allowing the price to recover and regain lost ground.

It can be said that every major shock of ASTER is almost inseparable from the name CZ. He stated that every time he buys coins, he is 100% trapped in the short term: purchasing BTC at an average price of $600 in 2014, it dropped to $200 within a month and continued for 18 months; buying BNB in 2017 also saw a drop of 20-30% and lasted for several weeks. This time, after the drop in ASTER, he added to his position, but everything is still uncertain. At the same time, he reminded everyone to be aware of the risks and stated that he would no longer disclose trading content to avoid influencing the market.

Previously, CZ also stated that BNB accounts for over 98% of his personal holdings and that he has never sold it. He held BNB at a price of $0.1 during the BNB ICO, and after eight years, the price of BNB has long surpassed the $1,000 mark, with its market capitalization gradually exceeding SOL, currently ranking fifth in the crypto space.

As the core asset of CZ, he publicly stated in August 2020 that BNB holders are the smartest; in June 2023, he encouraged holders to hold tight in the face of the SEC lawsuit; on November 2, 2025, he indicated that he had not sold for eight years. It is precisely BNB's long-term performance that provides a credit endorsement for his subsequent calls.

In addition to BNB and ASTER, VANA is also worth mentioning, as this is his first project he has participated in as an advisor (no clear purchase).

According to reports, Vana is an AI identity generation application, and the VANA token landed on Binance as early as December 2024, soaring to a historical high of $35.8 upon opening. As the only data decentralized autonomous organization (Data DAO) listed on Binance, it perfectly capitalized on the Q4 AI boom. However, after the data liquidity pool (DLP) opened in January 2025, data quality issues were exposed, causing the price to drop to around $6.

On February 24, YZi Labs announced a strategic investment in Vana, and on the same day, CZ took on the role of advisor and posted, “Crypto is AI money, data is AI food,” which significantly boosted the topic's popularity. The VANA token surged over 50% within 48 hours. However, after the initial rush, the project showed no improvement, and the token price fell back to $2.8, a decline of 92% from its peak. CZ has stated that he is an advisor, not a babysitter; although he invests in infrastructure, the implementation relies on the team. This precisely demonstrates that CZ's advisory title can ignite market sentiment but cannot ignite the fundamentals.

CZ Ignition, Community Fueling: The Traffic Code of Meme Carnival

As a public figure, CZ's public mention of certain cryptocurrencies naturally attracts a large number of investors to follow his trades. Although he often speaks out in an attempt to distance himself from certain meme coins, the follow-on effect created by the market is difficult to isolate. Especially after a large number of projects launched on Binance Alpha, combined with the FOMO effect, a single statement is enough to stir up a tempest.

Take the SZN coin as an example, CZ posted on October 7 that the BNB meme season has arrived, with the coin price soaring 5600% in 24 hours. The 4 coins originated from CZ's hand gesture photo, where CZ responded to fake news multiple times in the post using the number 4, and the community turned it into a meme, peaking at a 2000% surge. BROCCOLI comes from CZ publicly naming his dog, reaching a market value of 52 million USD in 2 hours. CZSTATUE is a meme coin of a 14-foot CZ golden statue, which CZ jokingly advised not to buy, but it instead surged by 3000%. PALU is derived from a cartoon avatar that CZ liked, with a market value that once exceeded 100 million USD. MAXI is a response to CZSTATUE, which surged over 1500% after CZ's criticism. SCI6900 is a project that CZ retweeted about putting the Shanghai index on-chain, which increased by 300% in 24 hours. In March 2025, CZ claimed he spent 1 BNB to buy TST and Mubarak to do some testing, resulting in both coins soaring instantly (TST 50%+, Mubarak 300%+).

In addition, the recent viral Chinese meme coin “Binance Life” originated from a reply by He Yi to a netizen saying, “Wishing you a Binance life.” Base founder @jessepollak released a video saying “Start Binance Life mode on Base App,” and CZ immediately retweeted, stating that “Binance Life” is the first Chinese platform launched on Base App, originating from the BNB chain. This back-and-forth interaction allowed its market value to break through 500 million dollars in a short time, being pushed by the community as the banner of “Mandarin Meme Renaissance.” Looking back, these coins once flourished but have largely retraced significantly; current prices are generally down by 80%–95% from their peaks, and both liquidity and attention have noticeably cooled.

GIGGLE is also a typical example. On September 21, 2025, after CZ publicly posted the BNB donation address for Giggle Academy on X, the price of GIGGLE issued on Four.meme skyrocketed, with an increase of about 14 times. CZ posted that the GIGGLE token is not an official project, and subsequently, the price of GIGGLE plummeted by 80%.

However, on the day of GIGGLE's debut on Binance Alpha in October and its subsequent listing on Binance Spot, the price saw a significant increase. On November 3rd, Binance announced that starting in December, it would directly donate 50% of GIGGLE's spot and margin trading fees to Giggle Academy; Giggle Academy officially responded that after receiving the donation, it would additionally burn 50%. Once this news broke, amidst an overall correction in the cryptocurrency market in early November, GIGGLE's trading volume surged, and its price doubled.

From Binance Alpha to the spot opening, and then to an announcement, each link has seen exponential growth. Although GIGGLE is not officially issued by Giggle Academy, the community has still capitalized on it, pushing the topic and sentiment to a peak. This is enough to illustrate that in the meme world, Binance remains the ultimate endorsement of traffic and confidence.

YZi Labs Investment Endorsement

In addition to CZ's personal endorsements, the investment backing from YZi Labs can also attract market attention. According to public information, YZi Labs has invested in over 20 projects this year, focusing on infrastructure, settlement and stablecoins, and AI applications, while also considering directions such as RWA and programmable Bitcoin. Among the projects that have issued tokens are SIGN, VANA, EDU (Open Campus), and ENA (Ethena).

SIGN is an airdrop protocol led by YZi Labs with a $16 million investment in January 2025, followed by an additional $25.5 million in October. On April 25, Binance announced that SIGN would be listed on the HODLer Airdrops page. In the two days before the listing, the price of the coin rose from $0.03 to $0.133, a more than threefold increase, and then it fell back down, currently maintaining around $0.08.

On September 19, YZi Labs announced an increase in its stake in Ethena Labs, but the price of ENA reacted tepidly. However, the TVL of USDe peaked at $14.15 billion during the same month, and during the crash event on October 11, USDe decoupled, with the current TVL falling back to $9.5 billion. According to Coingecko data, ENA currently has a market capitalization of approximately $2.3 billion, ranking 56th in the cryptocurrency market.

On September 24, CZ publicly acknowledged on social media that he had invested in SafePal in its early days. On that day, the price of SFP surged from $0.4 to around $0.7, an increase of over 70%. Currently, the price has fallen back to $0.3.

On October 20th, YZi Labs participated in the $5 million strategic financing of Open Campus. Since the education sector is not a market hotspot, the token EDU has performed mediocre.

It is worth noting that YZi Labs usually announces investment information to the public after a cryptocurrency is listed on an exchange, which naturally amplifies the price and volume pulses driven by events. However, from the cold start of Vana to the subsequent lack of momentum for SIGN/EDU, it can be seen that the market does not always respond positively to the investment endorsement from YZi Labs.

Conclusion

Ultimately, whether it's CZ personally getting involved or collaborating with the community to create a meme atmosphere, or the backing from YZi Labs, the so-called “pump” is merely a spark, while the community's hype is the fuel that ignites the market. The combination of the two has set the market ablaze, indicating that the market itself needs hotspots to maintain attention and liquidity. A single fire can illuminate the present, but it cannot sustain the future; what truly endures is still the fundamentals.

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