Original Author: Nicky, Foresight News
Binance founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) has recently encountered "trouble" again.
In a photo on the X platform, CZ stands in front of an event backdrop, next to a user who claims to be a "long-term supporter of BNB." But CZ quickly noticed something was wrong—he never owned that blue-purple shirt, that backdrop does not exist, and the resolution of the figures is inconsistent, clearly indicating it was spliced together. Meanwhile, the original photo for another Photoshopped image was a group photo of CZ and Aster CEO Leonard.
Even more intriguing is that this account, with 863,000 followers, had already blocked CZ.
On February 4, CZ publicly dissected the details of the image, pointing out that the account's history showed obvious discontinuities: its early content had almost nothing to do with crypto, but it later shifted to posting about BNB activities, with an identity transition that lacked a reasonable explanation. In his view, such long-standing accounts built on fabricated materials are not just pranks but more like a form of image manipulation with a preset agenda.
CZ stated that he does not know the holder of this account, nor does he remember when he blocked them, but it now seems that doing so was the right move. Regarding the so-called "lawyer's letter" that had been circulating, he originally thought the signs of forgery were obvious and did not require clarification, but he still saw some media outlets reposting the image and reporting on it. He warned that if even obvious PS or AI-generated content cannot be distinguished, one might ultimately pay the price for it.
Meanwhile, some bloggers in the Chinese community have陆续 discovered that a large number of accounts in the English-speaking region, with Chinese characters in their names and "🔸BNB" in their nicknames, are posting similarly styled AI-synthesized group photos and uniformly publishing content such as "account deactivation."
Binance co-founder He Yi commented on social media: Next time someone fabricates facts, at least find a real name on LinkedIn. Who sends both a lawyer's letter and a compliance notice? Those who believe such content need to improve their risk assessment capabilities. As for FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt)舆论, she said she is viewing everything that happens with a positive perspective, as it might even increase Binance's visibility among certain groups.
At the same time, since January 15, Bitcoin has fallen from around $97,000 to below $71,000 on February 5, a drop of over 26%; BNB saw a similar decline, falling from $948 to $696 during the same period. On February 5, the Crypto Fear & Greed Index dropped to 12, entering the "Extreme Fear" zone.
The Crypto A-Listers in the Crosshairs
Unlike text, images are more effective at creating a "sense of connection." A photo with a well-known industry figure is often subconsciously interpreted as "having had contact," "being on the same side," or "having received some form of endorsement." The传播效率 of such material is often higher than that of lengthy arguments because it lowers the barrier to understanding and weakens the fact-checking process.
So, why would someone repeatedly create such images?
One possibility is to build a "credible persona" for an account. In the crypto community,流量 and trust are often closely linked. An account that appears to have "interacted with industry celebrities" is more likely to gain followers, retweets, and private message interactions. Once such a persona is established, it becomes easier to lower users' guard for subsequent project promotions, token shilling, or guiding them into community groups.
Some bloggers have pointed out that scammers simply add "BNB" after their names; once they get a retweet from CZ, they can gain hundreds of thousands of units of流量, thereby obtaining substantial economic benefits.
On January 28, CZ posted that in recent discussions surrounding him, there were signs of疑似有组织舆论操作 (suspected organized舆论 manipulation). He noted that some previously inactive or unrelated accounts were集中发布高度相似的内容 (concentrated publishing highly similar content) in a short period, showing obvious复制与扩散特征 (copying and diffusion characteristics), with overall behavior closer to systematic operation rather than a naturally formed discussion atmosphere. This also suggests that the motives behind these actions may not be pure.
Another, grayer path is to lay the groundwork for subsequent fraudulent activities. In common crypto scam chains, scammers often need to establish trust through a "professional background" or "industry connections" before gradually guiding users into private communication scenarios. Group photos, event pictures, and so-called "offline meeting" records are frequently used materials. The emergence of AI has simply turned these materials from "hard to forge" to "mass-producible."
Furthermore, some of this behavior cannot be ruled out as being related to KOL account growth logic. Currently, personal IP remains one of the fastest paths to流量 growth. By manufacturing visual evidence such as "having participated in industry events" or "being in the same frame as well-known figures," some new accounts can quickly shed their "stranger identity" and gain initial attention. In the流量 economy, even if the trust established this way is not solid, it is enough to support short-term monetization.
Currently, on platforms like Douyin (TikTok's Chinese counterpart) and WeChat Video Channels, content related to CZ has received over 100,000 likes. In such a流量 environment, if someone uses AI-generated photos, videos, or other materials to伪造与 CZ 存在互动或私下往来的内容 (forge content suggesting interaction or private dealings with CZ) to attract attention and build trust, it could easily mislead a large number of ordinary users, leading to actual financial losses.
AI has not created new motives but has amplified existing流量 logic and gray profit paths. From this perspective, Photoshopping celebrities does not necessarily point to the same purpose, but they often share similar传播逻辑: using celebrity symbols to shorten the time cost of building trust.
In such an environment, what a group photo can signify might be far less than we imagine. And before clicking retweet, asking one more question—"What is the source of this image?"—has become the most basic yet increasingly scarce skill in the AI era.
