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Elon Musk said he never urged Binance customers to withdraw their funds, closing off a viral claim that circulated on X over the weekend, according to Cointribune. The post, published by a cryptocurrency-focused account, attributed to the Tesla chief executive a critique of Binance’s market dominance and an appeal for users to shift assets to rival platforms.
The denial followed an intervention by Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, who asked the account to stop spreading false information and backed his reply with an AI-powered search check, Cointribune reported. U.Today reported that Zhao shared a screenshot of that search, which found no original Musk post supporting the claims about an 80% market share or any encouragement to move funds elsewhere.
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Key facts
- The viral post said Musk accused Binance of controlling 80% of the market and urged users to move assets to competing exchanges.
- Changpeng Zhao called the post false and warned its author against spreading untrue information, according to U.Today.
- Zhao cited a Grok AI search result showing no matching post on Musk’s account.
- Musk replied in the same thread, stating he had never published such a statement.
- The rumor surfaced while Binance was still managing the fallout of a hack estimated at 6.3 billion dollars.
How the denial unfolded
The original post arrived without any link to a source statement, leaving nothing to verify the alleged remarks. About an hour later, Zhao responded directly on X and shared the artificial intelligence check, which concluded the quote was fabricated. Musk then joined the conversation to say the words attributed to him were never his.
U.Today noted that the episode landed roughly a week after a brief public exchange between the two executives over Musk’s humor about the Binance attack, and that it came amid speculation the pair might be reconciling. The joint response marked a rare point of agreement between two figures who had clashed publicly in recent weeks.
Why it matters
Musk’s reach on X gives outsized weight to anything attributed to him, and a call to pull funds from a large exchange carries more risk when that exchange is already under stress. Binance has spent recent weeks answering questions about security and customer confidence after the breach, and an unverified withdrawal appeal could have amplified those doubts. The episode shows how quickly an unsourced quote can spread inside crypto markets, and how verification now often runs through the same platforms that distribute the rumor.
Wider concerns about exchange security have also grown. Operations attributed to North Korean hackers have been linked to billions of dollars in losses from crypto companies this year, and Michael Saylor has warned about attacks powered by artificial intelligence, according to Cointribune.
What to watch
Attention now turns to Binance’s handling of the hack’s aftermath, including updates on platform security and customer fund movements, which the exchange and its founder have addressed in public statements. Readers should treat statements attributed to public figures as unconfirmed until an original post or official channel can be checked.
Reported by Cointribune.
Sources: Cointribune, U.Today