A BNB Chain test memecoin (TST) saw an extreme price surge, briefly surpassing $52 million in market capitalization before plummeting to $15 million within minutes.
The volatility followed a post by Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, Binance’s founder and former CEO, on X.
Zhao revealed that the BNB Chain team had created a tutorial video demonstrating how to launch memecoins using the Four.Meme platform, with TST used as an example. The video unintentionally exposed the token’s name, triggering a speculative trading frenzy—particularly among Chinese crypto key opinion leaders (KOLs), known for influencing market trends.
The BNB Chain team quickly removed the video and deleted the private key associated with the creator address, which had 0.13% of TST’s supply. Despite this, Zhao suggested that the tutorial should be reinstated, stating, “It is what it is. This is NOT an endorsement from me for the token,” but added, “Happy trading!”
Zhao also clarified that TST is not an official BNB Chain token, and neither Binance nor the BNB Chain team holds any of it.
At its peak price of $0.0517, TST recorded a 22,500% price increase, pushing its market cap to $52 million. However, as speculative hype cooled, the token quickly dropped back to $15 million.
The event comes shortly after Zhao’s return to Binance Labs, now rebranded as YZi Labs, following his four-month U.S. prison sentence for money laundering charges. YZi Labs, named after Zhao and Binance co-founder Yi He, is now structured as a family office investment firm, distancing itself from Binance’s direct operations.
With a portfolio of over 250 projects, YZi Labs invested in blockchain companies such as Sky Mavis, LayerZero, Aptos Labs, and Polygon. The firm currently manages around $10 billion in assets, according to Bloomberg.
CZ suggested last month that China may adopt a strategic Bitcoin reserve, potentially following a plan proposed by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump.
Speaking at the Bitcoin MENA conference in Abu Dhabi, Zhao said smaller countries would likely lead the way in adopting Bitcoin reserves, with larger nations, including China, following suit later.
Zhao, who grew up in China, acknowledged the unpredictability of the country’s stance on crypto, citing the government’s lack of transparency. However, he described the establishment of a Bitcoin reserve as “inevitable,” stating, “They have to do it at some point because it’s the only ‘hard’ asset.”
