OKX founder calls CZ a liar, denies reporting Huobi founder to police

OKX founder Star Xu has forcefully refuted an allegation from Binance founder Changpeng "CZ" Zhao's autobiography that he was responsible for the November 2020 arrest of Huobi (now HTX) founder Leon Li by Chinese police. In a post on X, Xu called the claim "purely absurd nonsense." He argued that major platforms and their founders in the Asian crypto industry face numerous reports each year, and if reports alone determined outcomes, the industry could not exist. "To see [Zhao] still spouting absurd nonsense to the world after a four-month prison sentence, one can only say that a person accustomed to lying does not change their nature," Xu added. Zhao previously worked at OKCoin, the predecessor to OKX, and has stated he left after disagreeing with the company's operational methods before founding Binance. Xu, Zhao, and Li were once known to be on friendly terms, and were even photographed sharing a symbolic drink of friendship. However, their relationships are reported to have soured due to accumulated distrust and conflict amid intense competition between their respective exchanges.