Authors: Climber, CryptoPulse
On April 10th, Binance founder CZ (Zhao Changpeng) publicly demanded an apology from OKX CEO Star on social media, stating his willingness to make a $1 billion bet to prove he had already divorced his ex-wife. Star refused the bet, citing regulatory concerns. Subsequently, He Yi herself stepped in and revealed more details about the past.
In fact, the feud between the three dates back ten years. From the early, cutthroat competition between exchanges to today's complex ecosystem where regulation and user traffic coexist, few entanglements have spanned multiple cycles and continued to be rewritten like the story between CZ, He Yi, and the OKX system.
This is no longer a personal grudge; rather, it's an implicit thread running through the rise of centralized exchanges in the East, their global expansion, industry crises, and the era of public opinion. It has truly driven changes in the crypto ecosystem and propelled the development of the entire blockchain industry.
I. Alliances and Divisions: It all started with the OK system
Around 2013, Bitcoin trading entered its early explosive growth phase in China. OKCoin rose rapidly and, together with Huobi, became one of the core sources of global trading volume at that time. The OK system at that time was essentially more like a highly specialized triangular structure, with Star as OKCoin CEO, He Yi as CMO, and CZ as CTO.
Specifically, Xu Mingxing was responsible for overall strategy and resource integration, controlling the company's direction. He Yi led the market and branding, rapidly expanding the platform's influence through media exposure and user operations. CZ, on the other hand, built the core trading system, whose matching engine was leading-edge at the time and provided infrastructure support for high-frequency trading.
Between 2014 and 2015, OKCoin once occupied a significant share of global Bitcoin trading volume. This success was not accidental, but rather the result of the synergy of technological efficiency, traffic operation, and capital resources.
However, as the platform expanded, development issues began to emerge. For example, how should the internationalization path be pursued? Should the development of derivatives be prioritized? Where are the boundaries of risk control? These issues gradually evolved into the core points of contention among the three individuals.
At the same time, the domestic regulatory environment began to tighten. In particular, the stricter policies around 2017 forced exchanges to face the dual pressures of survival and transformation. Against this backdrop, internal conflicts were rapidly amplified.
Ultimately, CZ chose to leave the OK system, and He Yi followed suit.
At the time, this change did not attract much attention, but in retrospect, this event of going their separate ways actually weakened the OK system's technology and growth capabilities, and laid the groundwork for the later restructuring of the competitive landscape.
II. Departure and Conflict: Binance's Rapid Rise
In 2017, the ICO wave swept through the entire crypto market, with a large number of new projects emerging, and exchanges becoming the core entry point for traffic and funds. During this window of opportunity, CZ and He Yi co-founded Binance and quickly entered the market.
Unlike traditional exchanges, Binance adopted a strategy of high-frequency listings and global expansion from the outset. It raised funds by issuing BNB and simultaneously launched popular tokens, attracting a large influx of users and liquidity. This approach was extremely aggressive and effective at the time.
From a technical standpoint, Binance has inherited the matching system advantages that CZ accumulated during his time at OKEx, and the platform's trading speed and stability are far superior to most competitors.
At the strategic level, Binance has rapidly expanded into regions such as Japan and Malta, forming a globally distributed operational structure to mitigate the risks associated with relying on a single regulatory entity.
Within just a few months, Binance's trading volume surged to the top ranks globally. By around 2018, it had become one of the world's largest cryptocurrency exchanges. Such a rate of growth is extremely rare in the entire history of internet commerce.
But for OKX, this is not just the emergence of competitors, but a disruption. Former core members have built a more efficient system externally and are now competing for market share.
Subsequently, competition between the two companies intensified. OKX strengthened its contract and derivatives business, while Binance built a broader business empire through spot trading, Launchpad, and ecosystem expansion.
This differentiated competition became the main theme of the development of the crypto industry in the following years.
III. From Covert to Overt War: FTX's Collapse Ignites a Crisis of Trust
From 2018 to 2022, the crypto industry experienced multiple bull and bear market cycles, but competition among leading exchanges remained relatively restrained, mainly focusing on product and user aspects. However, this superficial peace was completely shattered by the collapse of FTX in 2022.
At a critical juncture, CZ publicly announced the liquidation of his FTT holdings, which was widely seen by the market as accelerating the outbreak of the liquidity crisis. With FTX's rapid collapse, the industry entered a deep crisis of trust.
The collapse of leading exchanges has had a significant impact. In the short term, Binance has become one of the main liquidity providers, further concentrating its market share. However, in the long term, this concentration of power has also attracted regulatory attention.
Around 2023, US regulators launched an investigation into Binance, and CZ eventually reached a settlement with the regulators and stepped down as CEO.
The key change at this stage is the shift in the industry evaluation system. The competitive logic that used to focus on transaction depth and product variety has been replaced by transparency, compliance, and historical behavior.
Public opinion has begun to revisit past controversies involving major exchanges and amplify them.
This also means that competition is no longer limited to the business level, but is beginning to shift to the level of narrative and compliance.
IV. The War of Public Opinion: OKX Star's Direct Confrontation with He Yi
In the new media environment, OKX Star has gradually become a trendsetter. His content has shifted from industry commentary to revealing narratives involving historical disputes, contract issues, and even chat logs.
This type of content is characterized by its blend of information and emotion, clear stance, and extremely high dissemination efficiency. Fueled by social media and public opinion, this form of expression often has a greater reach than traditional announcements.
At the same time, the focus of discussion shifted from how well the exchanges were performing to who was manipulating them and who was more trustworthy. The focus of competition within the industry also shifted from products and services to, at one point, the personas they represented.
He Yi's involvement further escalated this conflict.
She responded to the controversy multiple times through AMAs, podcasts, and social media, explaining the listing mechanism and internal processes. This direct communication approach, while increasing transparency, also kept the friction in the public eye.
Ultimately, public opinion gradually led to a stronger polarization between the two sides, with both supportive and opposing voices in the community revolving around the key figures in the incident, thus influencing the judgments of everyone in the industry.
V. Full-blown Outbreak: Revisiting Old Issues and the End of the Traffic Era
On April 8, CZ's new book, "Binance Life," was released. The book features recommendations from Bridgewater Associates founder Ray Dalio, BlackRock co-founder Larry Fink, and Haidilao founder Zhang Yong, among others, and a foreword by He Yi.
However, this also brought this decade-long entanglement to a new climax, as the early experiences and controversies mentioned in the book reactivated a large amount of historical information and brought it into the public eye.
In response to these issues, all parties quickly launched counterattacks, and the old incident was reinterpreted.
Star publicly tweeted, questioning whether CZ had officially divorced, arguing that this contradicted his autobiography. CZ responded that they had already divorced and were willing to place a $1 billion bet.
CZ's dramatic and forceful stance, coupled with OKX Star's refusal to participate and questioning of its professionalism, has had a far greater impact than typical controversies, despite offering no substantial new information.
The main reasons for the continued escalation of this conflict are threefold: first, the historical issues left over from the OKCoin era; second, the long-standing rivalry and contradictions between Binance and OKX; and third, the amplifying effect of public opinion in the era of social media.
Conclusion: This is not just a story of three people.
Looking back at this entanglement spanning more than a decade, from fighting side by side in the OKCoin era, to the head-on confrontation between Binance and OKX, and then to the complete tearing apart in the era of public opinion, the relationship between CZ, He Yi and OKX Star has long transcended the scope of personal grudges.
It's more like a mirror, reflecting the core gameplay of the crypto industry at different stages. In the early stages, technology and efficiency determined survival; in the mid-stage, capital and expansion reshaped the landscape; and now, trust, narrative, and traffic are taking over everything.
In a sense, this triangular storm will not truly end. Because as long as the industry continues to change, old narratives will be repeatedly activated, and new conflicts will continue to accumulate.
Today's online battle may just be the opening act of the next cycle. And the emotions amplified today may be redefined in the future. CZ, He Yi, and OKX Star are at the center of this transformation.
