Binance founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao stirred the market on March 23 with a high-leverage trade that sent token prices soaring.
Using APX Finance, Zhao opened a 24.7x leveraged long position on Mubarak (MUBARAK) with 0.04 BNB as collateral.
Initially flagged by on-chain analyst ai_9684xtpa, the move quickly caught the attention of X. In response, Zhao downplayed the trade, stating,
“Doing a little on-chain testing on Sunday, as usual. Nothing to be excited about.”
Despite his remarks, the market reacted instantly. Within seven minutes, APX (APX) surged 26%, jumping from $0.064 to $0.081, while MUBARAK climbed 5.5%, from $0.146 to $0.154. Zhao executed the trade from a public donation address, and the position has since been closed.
This price movement aligns with a familiar trend—market activity follows whenever Zhao trades or tweets. He recently purchased 20,150 MUBARAK for 1 BNB ($600 at the time), causing the memecoin to surge and briefly top BNB Chain’s rankings by market cap. Trading volume skyrocketed beyond $180 million, according to Root Data.
However, Zhao clarified that his latest move wasn’t about profit but a technical experiment on Maximal Extractable Value (MEV). He later posted on X:
“Just trying the experience, also trying to see if there is still MEV.”
His findings from the test remain undisclosed.
MEV, commonly associated with Ethereum (ETH), has also plagued the BNB Chain, where validators manipulate transactions in the mempool to maximize profits. Reports indicate that in 2024 alone, BNB users lost approximately $1.5 billion due to MEV exploits. Zhao’s experiment follows his February 7 X poll, where he asked if BNB Chain should eliminate or significantly reduce MEV.
Notably, CZ’s recent on-chain activity has sparked conversations, particularly regarding a potential account hack involving a trader who supports Binance. He shared a screenshot on X showing unusual activity, as the account had started promoting meme coins to its followers.
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