Binance co-founder Changpeng 'CZ' Zhao says he never threatened to sell SpaceX shares or pressure Elon Musk. He said so in a post on X on Saturday, October 31. His words: 'I never said selling SPCX shares.'
What CZ said on X
The post is short and it's a flat denial. CZ isn't hedging or softening anything. He says the idea that he floated a sale, or tried to lean on Musk, doesn't match what he actually said.
The ticker he used, SPCX, is the one he named in the post. He didn't just deny the threat. He singled out the specific act of selling, which suggests that's the version of events he wants dead.
Why the stake came up at all
By CZ's account, he brought up Binance's stake in SpaceX for one reason. He wanted to counter comparisons between Binance and FTX, the crypto exchange that collapsed and is still a byword for failure in the industry. Those comparisons surfaced after the hack.
So the stake, in his telling, was a talking point about Binance's own standing. It was a way to say the exchange holds real assets and isn't FTX. It wasn't a bargaining chip aimed at Musk.
That's CZ's explanation, and it's the only one on the record here. Nobody else has been quoted.
What the post leaves open
There are gaps, and they're sizable. The account we have doesn't say how large Binance's SpaceX position is. It doesn't describe the hack in any detail or say which platform was hit. It doesn't say where the 'threat' reading started or who first put it into circulation.
It also doesn't include any reply from Musk or from SpaceX. Nothing in the material suggests either side has commented on the matter. Without that, this is one side of a dispute over what was said and what was meant.
The timing isn't ideal for Binance. Being mentioned in the same breath as FTX is the kind of comparison an exchange usually wants to shut down quickly. CZ appears to have tried to do that, and ended up needing a second clarification on top of it.
Where it stands
For now, the public record is a single post. CZ has made his denial on X, tied the SpaceX mention to the FTX comparisons, and left it there. Whether Musk or SpaceX respond is the next thing to watch. As of Monday, neither has done so in anything we've seen.
