A statue of Binance founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao situated near the U.S. Capitol in Washington D.C. became controversial after a memecoin called “czstatue” surged by 27,000% in a single day before plummeting back to almost zero.
The token, which peaked at 17.5 cents, generated $1.2 billion in trading volume prior to its crash after Zhao tweeted “Don’t buy the meme,” downplaying the intent behind the statue.
CZ was recently pardoned by U.S. President Donald Trump after serving four months in prison in 2024. He pleaded guilty in November 2023 to violating the Bank Secrecy Act.
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“While I appreciate the gesture, the existence of a meme coin linked to this suggests the creator likely aimed to profit off any interaction with me,” CZ stated. “This is something I do not value. Don’t buy the meme.
“I would also never accept a statue of myself. What kind of egomaniac would have a statue of oneself in their home?”
There are still 1,177 holders of this nearly worthless token, indicating that many retail investors were left holding the bag. Some speculated that the memecoin creator set up a “honeypot” contract, meaning others could only buy the token, not sell it.
