Changpeng Zhao, also known as CZ, has dismissed a false rumor circulating online that he was involved in a surfing accident in Dubai and went missing. The story initially spread through WeChat groups, particularly among Chinese-language users.
Responding to criticism, the founder of Binance pointed out that Dubai isn’t known for surfing. However, quick-thinking traders had already created small, joke-based cryptocurrencies on the Solana and BNB Chain networks.
Hoax Triggers Wave Of Low-Cap Meme Coin Launches
A fake post circulated online saying that CZ had been carried out to sea near Jumeirah beach while rescue crews were looking for him.
Witnesses and security at the scene said the ocean looked calm, but a powerful rip current was present. The post stated that Zhao was suddenly pulled out to sea and quickly disappeared. Coastal guards and rescue teams immediately launched a large search using speedboats, drones, and helicopters.
As an analyst, I observed that almost immediately after the initial token launch, copycat tokens began appearing on platforms like pump.fun and the BNB Chain launchpad. A large number of these imitations used the tickers SEAZ and RIPCZ.
Data from GeckoTerminal reveals that several SEAZ trading pools on the Solana network are currently valued at less than $0.001. These pools have small market capitalizations, between about $2,400 and $4,600, and limited trading volume, with liquidity below $6,000.
On PancakeSwap V2, the version running on BNB Chain had a market capitalization around $8,300 with $9,500 worth of assets available for trading. A single trading pool on Solana, called SEAZ, saw $114,000 in trades with only $5,683 in available assets.
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This situation is reminiscent of past scams involving meme coins on Solana. Typically, these tokens lose between 10% and 40% of their value within just a few hours of being released.
CZ Pushes Back On The Rumor Cycle
CZ responded to the false claims, clarifying that he enjoys kitesurfing, not traditional surfing. He also encouraged his followers to join him for a surfing experience at Surf Abu Dhabi.
Be careful about believing everything you read online. I don’t kitesurf – that’s a different sport altogether! Dubai isn’t really a surfing location, although Abu Dhabi has a huge artificial wave pool called Surf Abu Dhabi, which I haven’t checked out yet. It’s safe there because there are no rip currents. Maybe we could go together sometime?
— CZ 🔶 BNB (@cz_binance) May 24, 2026
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.
This situation is similar to previous false reports about Binance, like a rumor last year about an Interpol red notice, which temporarily affected the price of BNB.
As a researcher, this situation reminds me of past instances connected to CZ, where we saw traders quickly jump into very new, low-volume tokens, only for the initial excitement – and the price – to quickly fall apart. It’s a pattern I’m definitely watching closely.
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2026-05-25 00:17