‘Shameless’: CZ Slams Bitcoin Hater Nouriel Roubini's New Token

By Sander Lutz

For years, economist Nouriel Roubini was one of crypto’s most outspoken critics: he called Bitcoin a “shitcoin,” derided Ethereum as a currency worth less than nothing, and even dismissed blockchain technology as a whole as “no better than a spreadsheet.”

Now, in a twist as old as time, Roubini is rolling out his own cryptocurrency—and Binance co-founder and CEO Changpeng Zhao isn’t having it. 

“Some people are shameless,” Zhao, who also goes by CZ, wrote on Twitter this week regarding Roubini. 

Zhao, crypto’s richest person, apparently took issue not just with Roubini’s shift in stance on crypto generally, but on Binance, specifically. 

Late last year, in the immediate aftermath of FTX’s collapse, Roubini—whose consistently dire outlook on financial markets has earned him the nickname “Dr Doom”—repeatedly slammed Zhao on-stage at a CNBC live event in Abu Dhabi, labeling the crypto entrepreneur a “walking time bomb.”

“There are seven Cs of crypto,” Roubini said at the time. “Concealed, corrupt, crooks, criminals, con men, carnival barkers and finally, CZ.”

Just months later, Roubini’s new crypto venture, Atlas Capital, touted one of its leadership team member’s experience at Binance as proof of the new company’s bona fides. 

“After attacking Binance publicly on stage a year ago, [Roubini] now issues a token and puts Binance logo on their website WITHOUT permission,” Zhao fumed on Twitter, before adding clown, shrug, and cry-laughing emojis.

Since Zhao first posted the tweet, Atlas Capital has removed the logos of all external companies from its “Team” page, including Binance.

Its site still proclaims that the company benefits from the “deep experience” of former Binance employees, however, including its Senior Vice President of Product Mayur Kamat, who previously served as Global Head of Product under Zhao at Binance.

Edited by Ryan Ozawa.

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