OKX chief challenges Binance’s framing of $800 million payout

what happened

OKX CEO Star Xu criticized the way Binance founder Changpeng Zhao describes the roughly $800 million paid to users after the October 10, 2025 crypto-market crash. Crypto Briefing reported that CZ characterized the payment as a voluntary gesture. Xu argued that this wording understates the event’s scale: approximately $19 billion was liquidated within 24 hours, more than 1.6 million accounts were affected, and Bitcoin fell between 14% and 30% intraday, depending on the venue.

Xu also linked the crash’s severity to Binance’s promotion of the synthetic dollar token USDe, which was marketed with yields of around 12% APY. The research findings described those yields as unsustainable and said they helped enable excessive leverage. Binance offered a different explanation, stating that 75% of liquidations resulted from macro factors and technical issues rather than promotions of its products.

OKX and Binance compete for the same traders. According to the research findings, the aftermath of 10/10 brought significant market downturns and regulatory scrutiny for Binance. Attention will now focus on whether Binance provides a fuller explanation of its 75% attribution figure and whether regulators examine how yield products are marketed alongside leverage.

why it matters

The dispute may shape expectations about exchange responsibility during market stress, as well as confidence in yield-bearing products. The gap between roughly $19 billion in liquidations and $800 million in compensation is central to the ongoing reputational and regulatory debate.

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