WORLDTECHBinance co-founder CZ denies exchange sold crypto during Bitcoin slide
Changpeng Zhao, a Binance co-founder better known as CZ, has rejected the suggestion that his exchange sold crypto during a broad market selloff. According to Crypto Briefing and The Block, he also said he had been buying digital assets himself in the days before prices dropped.
Bitcoin low and partial recovery
On November 15, 2026, Bitcoin reached an intraday low of somewhere between $61,946 and $62,112, the figure depending on which data source is used. That was its weakest point since mid-July. The losses extended well past the leading cryptocurrency, with about $2 billion in leveraged positions wiped out over the 24 hours ending around 07:00 Singapore time that day.
The downturn did not last the whole day. Later on November 15, Bitcoin climbed back into a band of $64,000 to $64,410.
Zhao disputes the selling claims
Changpeng Zhao, widely known as CZ, moved quickly to push back on speculation that his former exchange had added to the slide. In his account, Binance sold no crypto assets while prices fell, and he personally had been acquiring digital assets in the preceding days.
Zhao also laid out his own candidates for the selloff, naming five factors that could have contributed. They included the expected public listing of an AI company and security problems that may have weighed on sentiment. He cautioned that correlation does not equal causation.
Outflows from US Bitcoin funds
US spot Bitcoin ETFs logged about $1.9 billion in net outflows over the seven trading days leading up to November 13, a figure reported alongside the liquidation totals.
Open questions
- Which of the five factors Zhao named, if any, mainly drove the selloff?
- Did Binance hold any crypto positions that would have been affected by the decline?