--- title: "Binance CEO Says Everything Is Fine as Withdrawals Surge To $3 Billion" description: "Changpeng \"CZ\" Zhao wants everyone to know that it's totally normal and fine that people are rushing to withdraw from Binance, thank you very much. " date: "2022-12-14" modified: "2022-12-14" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/binance-ceo-cz-withdrawals" categories: - "Blockchain" - "Future Society" tags: - "binance" - "ftx" - "stablecoins" - "the digest" --- # Binance CEO Says Everything Is Fine as Withdrawals Surge To $3 Billion ![Changpeng "CZ" Zhao wants everyone to know that it's totally normal and fine that people are rushing to withdraw from Binance, thank you very much. ]() *\Image: Ben McShane via Getty / Futurism\* ## Bank Run Changpeng "CZ" Zhao wants everyone to know that it's totally normal and fine that people are rushing to withdraw from Binance, the cryptocurrency exchange he runs, thank you very much. "Things seem to have stabilized," [CZ tweeted]() after the world's largest crypto exchange [halted withdrawals]() of the USDC "stablecoin" on Tuesday — and after [*Reuters* reported]() that federal prosecutors were weighing criminal charges against Binance and execs including Zhao himself. Binance halted withdrawals of the USDC coin, the value of which is supposed to be pegged to the US dollar, [for about eight hours]() to initiate a "token swap." All the same, the move prompted twitchy customers to withdraw roughly $3 billion since yesterday, blockchain analytics firm Nansen [declared in a tweet](). "We’re seeing the money flowing back already," Zhao said in a Twitter Spaces discussion on Wednesday, as [transcribed by *CNN*](). There were, the Binance CEO said, "some withdrawals," but those represented "very normal market behavior." ## FTX Fallout This all comes during an exceptionally rocky period for the crypto industry that began last month, when Binance's once-rival exchange FTX crashed and burned, revealing a whole mess of [interpersonal drama]() and [alleged financial crimes](). The ensuing fallout from the FTX crash has been swift and relentless, culminating this week in the [Bahamas arrest of FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried](), who oversaw the once-dominant exchange as it did what its new CEO is now calling "[old-fashioned embezzlement]()." Due to its deep connections in the ecosystem, the FTX collapse has rattled the entire crypto industry and taken down [several other]() [players with it ]()— and with Binance in the news and [under the watchful eye of the US government](), its fate may now hang in the balance, too. **More on the crypto crazies:** [*SBF and Caroline Ellison Allegedly Had a Secret Groupchat Called “Wirefraud”*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()