Changpeng Zhao (CZ) denied a viral rumor that claimed he went missing in a Dubai surfing accident on Sunday. The fabricated story spread first through Chinese-language WeChat groups.
In his pushback, the Binance founder noted Dubai is not a surfing destination but opportunistic traders had already spun up tiny meme coins on Solana and BNB Chain.
Hoax Triggers Wave Of Low-Cap Meme Coin Launches
The fabricated post claimed CZ had been swept out to sea near Jumeirah beach as rescue teams searched.
“According to eyewitnesses and security personnel at the scene, the sea appeared calm at the time, but the rip current was extremely strong. Zhao was reportedly swept out to sea without warning and disappeared from sight within moments. Local coastal guards and maritime rescue teams quickly deployed speedboats, drones, and rescue helicopters to conduct a large-scale search operation,” the post claimed.
Within hours, traders deployed knockoff tokens on pump.fun and the BNB Chain meme launchpad, most carrying SEAZ and RIPCZ tickers.
GeckoTerminal data shows several SEAZ pools on Solana priced below one-thousandth of a cent. Market caps ranged from roughly $2,400 to $4,600 with liquidity under $6,000.
The BNB Chain version on PancakeSwap V2 traded near $8,300 in market cap on $9,500 of liquidity. One Solana SEAZ pool printed about $114,000 in volume on just $5,683 of liquidity.
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The setup recalls past Solana meme coin rugs. Most tokens dropped 10% to 40% within hours of launch.
CZ Pushes Back On The Rumor Cycle
CZ addressed the hoax, noting that he kite surfs rather than surfs and invited followers to try Surf Abu Dhabi together.
The Binance founder has criticized meme coin traders before for chasing tokens tied to his name.
“I am not against memes, but meme coins are getting “a little” weird now,” he noted.
The incident mirrors past Binance fake news incidents, including an Interpol red notice rumor that briefly hit BNB.
This pattern also recalls earlier CZ-linked meme frenzy incidents, when traders piled into thin tokens before momentum collapsed.
