Since 2023, a photo of Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) frequently posted on his Twitter account showing the number 4. Many community users also used their creativity to make emoticons, which were widely circulated in major crypto communities and became a meme for crypto users. CZ himself did not mind this and even encouraged community users to be creative and continued to promote the meme.
In April of this year, CZ was accused by the US government of failing to implement an effective anti-money laundering program as required by the US Bank Secrecy Act, and allowing Binance to process transactions involving proceeds from illegal activities, requiring Binance to pay $4.3 billion in fines and confiscations, while Zhao Changpeng personally agreed to pay a $50 million fine to reach a settlement. At the same time, CZ himself was sentenced to 4 months in prison for admitting money laundering charges, a sentence far lower than the 3-year prison sentence requested by federal prosecutors. Before the sentencing, CZ told the judge that it was his fault for failing to implement an adequate anti-money laundering program, and he deeply regretted it. At the same time, the "grudge" between CZ or Binance and the US SEC has temporarily come to an end.
CZ's four-month sentence coincides with his frequent use of the "4" gesture last year, which has caused the emoticon to spread wildly in major communities again. However, this time many community users are no longer making fun of CZ, but are more concerned about his memory and recognition of his outstanding contributions to the crypto industry.
At present, in addition to the meme package, the market has also seen the first meme project based on CZ's hand making the number "4", called "$FOUR". This meme project uses "Make BNB Great Again" as its slogan and is becoming an important value carrier of the "CZ 4 Culture". At this stage, "$FOUR" is not only viral in major crypto communities, but is also particularly popular among European and American communities and OG players in the meme circle. Its popularity is currently comparable to that of Trump-related memes.
The meaning of “4”
Back on January 2, 2023, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) posted several New Year’s resolutions on Twitter, one of which was to ignore FUD (fear, hesitation, and doubt), fake news, and attacks on Binance.
In fact, as the largest cryptocurrency trading platform, Binance has always been slandered by groundless rumors and fake news in the past. Even mainstream media such as Bloomberg would publish negative reports related to CZ without any verification. Bloomberg Businessweek also took measures to clear CZ's name after realizing its mistake.
In a statement to Bloomberg Businessweek:
“In Bloomberg Businessweek/Chinese Edition Issue 250 (July 6, 2022), we made a serious mistake by publishing a false and unfounded cover headline. The publication mistakenly wrote “Changpeng Zhao’s Ponzi Scheme”. The publication unreservedly retracts and retracts this offensive statement and apologizes unreservedly to Mr. Zhao Changpeng and the organization he founded, Binance, for any harm or distress caused. The publication has journalistic standards, which should and will be improved. To this end, we will not publish or make any identical or similar allegations in any way again. To correct our mistake, we will donate an agreed-upon amount in lieu of damages to the Hubei Songzi Special Education School Foundation.”
There are countless similar false reports, but very few are like Bloomberg Businessweek, which takes the initiative to correct and debunk the mistakes after realizing them.
So after CZ said he would try to keep 2023 simple and spend more time focusing on a few things. After listing three "dos" (education, compliance, and products and services), he added a fourth "don't" to ignore fear, hesitation and doubt (FUD), fake news, and attacks on Binance. At the end of the article, he also asked Twitter fans to link to this tweet when he tweets "4" in the future.
Therefore, in 2023, CZ also frequently posted the number "4" on Twitter, occasionally attaching a photo of himself making the number "4" with his fingers. This repeated mention of "4" is also interpreted as a symbol and determination of CZ's commitment to focusing on development and innovation without being disturbed by external debates or obstacles.
Now, with CZ in jail, the meme project $FOUR has become the carrier and successor of CZ’s “4” culture and concept, and is also becoming the spiritual sustenance of CZ fans, Binance community users and even crypto users.
From "4" to "$FOUR", a Tribute to CZ
$FOUR uses a hand making the number 4 as its meme logo. In the project's Twitter profile, $FOUR defines a series of tags for it, including "the most meme-effective meme coin on BNB Chain", "no FUD (fear, hesitation and doubt)", "US$4 billion (especially the SEC's US$4.3 billion fine)", "for everyone and everything" and "make BNB great again". These tags clearly express $FOUR's meme concept and ecological development purpose.
In fact, CZ’s “4” gesture represents CZ’s expectations for the development of the Binance ecosystem, as well as his expectations for the development of the industry. $FOUR uses the “4” gesture made by CZ’s hand as an element and logo, representing a tribute to CZ through a meme.
CZ's contribution to the crypto industry is undoubtedly huge. He not only redefined the CEX field through the Binance platform, but also promoted the continuous innovation of the on-chain world by creating the BNB Chain ecosystem and a series of ecological plans, and actively promoted the formulation and implementation of relevant policies to push the crypto industry to the mainstream. On the other hand, in order to better develop the Binance ecosystem and the crypto industry, CZ dared to face the accusations of the US government instead of choosing to evade. Not long ago, when the SEC decided to fine CZ and the potential sentence was still unclear, CZ, as a father of two children, dared to go to the United States alone to pay the fine at the risk of being detained indefinitely. Whether it is his courage, overall view or responsibility, it is worthy of everyone's admiration, and the clear sentence of four months is undoubtedly very lucky for CZ.
$FOUR is also spreading this tribute in the form of memes, and at the same time spreading the positive energy that CZ brings to the industry. Compared with the more empty narratives of other memes, $FOUR has a more solid consensus, value foundation and color, and has gained stronger vitality through deep binding with the Binance ecosystem and CZ.
On the other hand, $FOUR represents the FUD attitude. In addition to paying tribute to CZ, it also represents the spirit of KEEP BUILDING in the crypto industry, and the spirit of the grassroots in the cryptocurrency circle, which is unyielding, rebellious, and against the traditional establishment to create a new world. This coincides with the concept of Web3 and crypto philosophy. The spirit of its "4" culture is a perfect interpretation of every Builder in the cryptocurrency circle. Every Builder, including CZ, is worthy of respect. Therefore, for the $FOUR meme ecosystem, it is expected to continuously touch C-end players, show viral development, and build a very large community.
“$FOUR” is expected to lead the meme craze on BNB Chain
Based on its narrative, the development of “$FOUR” has good positive expectations and is expected to lead the BNB Chain MEME Summer craze in 2024.
In fact, in the DeFi Summer of 2020, the BNB Chain (earlier called BSC) ecosystem continued to show its edge, especially CZ continued to launch a series of plans including MEV and hackathon, which promoted the continuous prosperity of applications including DeFi and GameFi. It is far ahead in terms of TVL and number of users, and countless 100x and 1,000x coins have also emerged. All of this is closely related to CZ's layout. On the other hand, BNB Chain, which has a relatively sound system, has not produced any "golden dogs" worth paying attention to in several rounds of meme crazes.
In fact, CZ’s sentence is not long. He will be released from prison in October this year. After his release, he is expected to continue to promote BNB Chain in the meme sector. The reason is that some crypto sectors such as DeFi and GameFi are easily defined as securities by mainstream law enforcement agencies and have certain risks. Although memes rely on emotions and FOMO to spread, they do not have any risks because they originate from the community and grow in the community. They are a kind of culture in themselves. CZ, who has suffered losses in this regard, must understand this truth, so he will definitely use memes as an important catalyst to promote ecological growth.
On the other hand, meme is becoming an indispensable part of each chain ecosystem to enhance community cohesion and establish a cultural foundation, and it is clear that BNB Chain is expected to move in this direction. In this direction, BNB Chain especially needs a leading meme with leadership to lead the trend. "$FOUR", which is highly consistent with BNB Chain in terms of culture and narrative, may be a good choice. Therefore, CZ's release from prison will be a great boon to "$FOUR". The closer to his release, the greater the expected benefits. "$FOUR" is very likely to be the first shot of the BNB Chain MEME Summer craze, and its development has continued to receive high support from BNB Chain officials and the community.
In addition, BNB has performed very strongly in this round of bull market, especially after the previous round of decline, BNB has risen again and is expected to set new highs. The timing of $FOUR entering the market is also timely. Its narrative is expected to allow it to gain considerable benefits from the increase in BNB. The layout of $FOUR is expected to better reap the dividends of BNB and the BNB Chain ecosystem in this round.
At the same time, $FOUR has also reached a strategic cooperation with four.meme, the most popular meme LaunchPad platform on BNB Chain. The two will jointly build the largest meme alliance on BNB Chain, and the news of their cooperation was also retweeted by BNB Chain officials.
We can see that the unique meme narrative and potential development potential of “$FOUR” are being recognized by some T1-level big Vs in Europe and the United States. The early purchases of $FOUR were all from European and American communities and meme circle OGs, which is a strong proof. Now, many meme players and BNB Chain community users have also begun to lay out “$FOUR” belatedly, hoping to reap the dividends of the new round of meme summer, which is also constantly driving the continuous rise of the “$FOUR” token.