Bitcoin and BNB slip amid rumors of Interpol red notice for Binance CEO

In the early hours of April 3, prices of BNB and Bitcoin fell amid rumors of an Interpol red notice for Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ).

AHHHHH IM HEARING THINGS

brb withdrawing a decent chunk just in case. pic.twitter.com/2weMwBMP7C

— hyuk (@hyuktrades) April 3, 2023

A message with encoded content was posted by a well-known crypto community Twitter user under the pseudonym Cobie. Subsequently, the message was deciphered by other users and spread online.

The message read: “Interpol issued a red notice for CZ.”

Bitcoin’s price at the time fell to $27,590, but later recovered to $28,275 at the time of writing.

A notable drop was also recorded on the BNB chart. The coin fell to $302 and by the morning of April 4 had recovered to $311.

Subsequently, the author of the encrypted message admitted that the information was false. According to Cobie, someone in his circle leaked the rumors to stir up a reaction.

“The message was taken out of context. … In any case it should not have been read until I revealed the cipher. I apologise for this,” he wrote.

At the same time, CZ himself denied the arrest information and called the incident “the spread of FUD.”

The latest Fud was only spread by crypto news outlets and KOLs, likely planted/sponsored by another exchange. Very petty. Hurts the industry and hurts themselves. There are enough external forces attacking us. Our industry needs to unite at this juncture.

— CZ ? Binance (@cz_binance) April 4, 2023

«The recent FUD was probably planned or sponsored by another exchange. Very unfortunate. They harm the industry and themselves. We have enough external forces attacking us,» Zhao wrote.

Some in the crypto community may have believed the information amid the CFTC’s action against Binance and its CEO. The regulator says the platform traded derivatives in violation of registration requirements.

In April, Glassnode analysts reported that the lawsuits did not lead to a material outflow of users from Binance and did not shake investor confidence in Bitcoin.