Elon Musk has dismissed a viral post claiming he blamed Binance’s 80% market share for holding crypto back. The Tesla CEO called the quote made up on Saturday, after Binance founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao flagged it as false.
The timing gave the fake claim extra weight. The post urged users to move funds to rival exchanges while Binance still dealt with the fallout from a roughly $6.3 billion hack.
Binance Hack Fallout Continues
A crypto influencer account published the claim on Saturday morning. According to the post, Musk wanted users to move funds off Binance to restore competition and spark a bull run.
The post cited no original statement. Within about an hour, CZ told the account not to spread false information.
His reply included an answer from Grok, the AI chatbot built into X. Grok found no matching post on Musk’s account and called the story fabricated.
Musk then settled the matter in the same thread. The billionaire wrote that he never posted anything like it.
The exchange stands out because the two men have clashed repeatedly in recent weeks. Late in October, Musk was trolling the Binance hack on X.
This week, their crash-day meme spat showed the rivalry was far from over. On this point, however, both sides agreed.
Why a Fake Withdrawal Call Hits Harder Now
Musk’s reach on X means even an unsourced claim can shape sentiment within hours. A call to pull funds from the largest exchange carries more risk than an ordinary rumor.
Binance customers already have reasons to worry about security. The breach has been tied to North Korean hacking operations, which have taken billions from crypto firms this year.
Meanwhile, Strategy chairman Michael Saylor has warned that AI hackers targeting exchanges are the industry’s next threat.
Against that backdrop, a fake Elon Musk post about Binance becomes more than a nuisance. Each viral rumor now tests how quickly exchanges, founders, and AI tools can correct the record.
