CZ Donates 150 BNB to Libra Victims, But ‘Gets More Back’ into His Wallet
Binance Founder Changpeng ‘CZ’ Zhao has donated nearly $100,000 to the victims of the recent Libra scam – but he received more than that amount in his wallet from people wanting to help the effort. It started when CZ replied to a Twitter post by EnHeng, a college student who’s been raising funds to help the victims. The student wrote on 15 February that the scam hurt many people and that they aim to help “affected friends” with a donation of $50,000. They shared the BSC address for a charity dinner event. “This assistance is open to all victims, with priority given to college students,” EnHeng said.
To this, on 17 February, CZ pledged 150 BNB, currently worth $98,500. Then, on 18 February, the founder followed up with a message that he had sent the funds. By doing so, he shared his donation address with the public – and many joined the effort, sending donations to this address. Interestingly, however, the incoming donations quickly surpassed the initial donation by CZ. “When you try to make quick money, you often lose,” CZ wrote on 19 February. “When you give money away, you get more back.”
The address has kept on receiving donations. When CZ tweeted, the balance stood at 161 BNB. At the time of writing, just hours later, it’s up to 620 BNB. CZ said he would not keep one satoshi but would donate all of it. He appears to still be deciding on the cause. It will go “most likely to people who had a loss on TST or some of the Broccolis,” he said. 
The latter was one of many coins inspired by the name of CZ’s dog, Broccoli. The founder did not endorse as the official one any of the meme coins that kept popping up, but said that the best meme coin would win.
Libra Endorsement and Fraud Charges
The LIBRA token launched on 15 February. The coin surged a whopping 120% after Argentina’s President Javier Milei promoted it on Twitter, sharing a link to the project and its contract. But it swiftly collapsed after Milei deleted the post, fueling scam allegations. Milei defended himself by saying that he wasn’t aware of the project’s details, so he removed the original post. Milei is facing fraud charges. Additionally, LIBRA co-founder Hayden Davis, who also co-founded Kelsier Ventures, has ties to Melania Coin (MELANIA). “We sniped our own coin to prevent snipers from sniping our own coin,” he said on 17 February. You can read more about this incident here.
Meanwhile, BNB is the fifth coin per market capitalization, with $95.7 billion. It currently trades at $656.5. It is down 0.6% in a day and is up 1.6% in a week. Additionally, the price fell 5.8% in a month, while it’s up 86% in a year. Notably, the highest price paid for BNB is $788.84, recorded on 4 December 2024. The current price is 16.8% lower than the all-time high. In the meantime, Binance has decided to pause its US plans.
