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Binance founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao and Tesla CEO Elon Musk revived their recent spat on Friday, November 6, 2026, by trading memes as a stock selloff spilled into a crypto market crash. The exchange began under a post by Dogecoin co-creator Billy Markus, who had just woken up in Japan and asked how the market was performing.
The interaction occurred while traders faced significant losses, with Bitcoin sliding alongside global equities. Holders of leveraged long bets, which use borrowed money to wager on rising prices, carried the most risk during the downturn.
Musk and CZ Exchange Memes
Musk replied to Markus first with a blurry, red-tinted image of CZ, a reference to the red candles on price charts. This post revived an earlier dispute between the two figures. After North Korea-linked hackers took approximately $6.3 billion from Binance on October 29, Musk had previously posted laughing emojis under a security warning from CZ. At that time, CZ described the situation as a “bad time to troll” and asked Musk for “a little support.”
In response to the new meme, CZ posted a cartoon of a figure crouching on the ground with an arrow stuck in its bleeding leg. Binance co-founder and co-CEO Yi He joined the conversation about an hour later. She quoted Musk’s post with the red and blue pill scene from the film The Matrix, where the red pill reveals a harsh truth and the blue pill maintains a comforting illusion. Her post included green-tinted and red-tinted versions of Musk’s image of CZ, asking followers: “Which colored pill do you choose?”
Stock Selloff Triggers Crypto Crash
The selling pressure originated in US equities on Thursday. A slump in AI chip stocks set off a $2 trillion stock wipeout that spread across global markets overnight. By the time Markus logged on in Japan, Asian markets were under heavy pressure. In South Korea, the KOSPI index fell below 5,000 and triggered a circuit breaker after an 8% slide.
The stock rout quickly turned into a crypto market crash. One trader lost 201 BTC, worth about $15.6 million at the time, in eight successive liquidations. The Bitcoin price dropped below $80,000, sinking to its lowest level in a month. Crypto analyst Ben Cowen warned that a 2018-style selloff could send Bitcoin back to $58,000, a move that would extend the market crash well beyond the current losses.
Frequently Asked Questions
What triggered the crypto market crash on Friday?
A $2 trillion stock wipeout starting with a slump in AI chip stocks on Thursday spread to Asian markets, causing the KOSPI index to trigger a circuit breaker and pushing Bitcoin below $80,000.
How much did one trader lose in the crash?
One trader lost 201 BTC, valued at approximately $15.6 million, in eight successive liquidations as the market fell.
