Crypto Twitter battles mounting FUD with memes

Crypto supporters are known for their fierce hatred of what they call FUD — or fear, uncertainty and doubt.

And lately, there’s been plenty of FUD — the industry’s latest woes are piling on amid the declines of Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank and some wobbly stablecoins. And one short seller says Binance may be next.

NOW READ: Silvergate’s short seller and when it pays to listen to FUD

But Binance CEO, Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, gifted crypto Twitter a new meme to fight it.

FUD holds a unique place in crypto culture. It’s a catch-all term used by supporters of the technology to bat back perceived slights, negativity, rumours, and scepticism.

On Saturday, as news of Silicon Valley Bank’s failure rippled through Twitter, CZ re-upped a tweet featuring a photograph of him holding up four fingers, saying: “They FUD us, and banks fail. "

The tweet was a reference to the scrutiny Binance has received in recent months, most recently its handling of user balances.

The photo has an explanation: At the start of the year, CZ wrote a Twitter thread — since pinned to his profile — where he said he will try to “keep 2023 simple,” listing four do’s and dont’s.

The fourth item on the list reads: “4. Ignore FUD, fake news, attacks, etc.”

The post then instructs his followers to link to the same post whenever CZ tweeted the number 4, which would be his way of reminding himself and followers to ignore FUD.

NOW READ: Silvergate short seller says he’s betting against Signature: ‘Binance is next’

CZ has since tweeted “4″ whenever Binance receives any critical press coverage or scepticism from the crypto community, and his followers have aped the trend.

The “4″ meme recently evolved into the photo of CZ holding up four fingers. There have also been some lewd variations.

Memes tend to have breakout moments, where they go past their originators in their journey to virality. One such moment might have come last week when Justin Sun, the founder of the TRON blockchain, tweeted “4″ after reports of a flash crash in Huobi exchange’s native token.

TRON’s community Twitter account tweeted “4″ accompanied by a picture of Justin Sun holding up CZ’s four fingers photoshopped onto the image.