Crypto Tycoons Drink to Reconciliation: The Unwritten Rules of Resolving a $1 Billion Feud

On April 5, 2025, against the night view of Victoria Harbour, the "BUIDL 2025" Web3 Industry Summit was taking place. Amidst the clinking of glasses, a group photo quickly went viral: Huobi founder Li Lin, Binance founder CZ (Changpeng Zhao), and TRON founder Justin Sun were at the center, raising their glasses in celebration with bright smiles, surrounded by other crypto industry moguls.

Another even more eye-catching photo circulated at the conference—Justin Sun and Li Lin embracing and drinking a "cross-armed toast." Just two months ago, Justin Sun had publicly denounced Li Lin for concealing Huobi's financial loopholes, with the two squaring off and refusing to yield. Could it be that in just two months, the two had cast aside the past and buried the hatchet?

The two photos are like a microcosm of the "Golden Age" of the crypto industry—containing both the undercurrents of grievances and a landscape of symbiotic interests. Their appearance together is not only a subtle reflection of personal relationships but also a witness to the crypto industry's journey from a lawless frontier to compliance. Below, we will take readers through the love-hate relationships between these industry giants.

Li Lin and Justin Sun: A Debt Dispute That is Difficult to Untangle

Li Lin and Justin Sun once had a major dispute over the acquisition of Huobi, which was well-known within the circle. The origin of the matter dates back to October 8, 2022, when Huobi founder Li Lin sold his shares in Huobi to About Capital Management, which is associated with Justin Sun. Three years after the closing, in February 2025, Justin Sun suddenly publicly accused Li Lin of concealing due diligence materials, claiming there was a "financial hole" of $30 million within Huobi that Li needed to fill out of his own pocket.

Li Lin responded with a long post stating that during the closing in 2022, the two sides had a disagreement on the calculation method for user assets and that sufficient reserves had been set aside. He argued that the "$30 million financial hole" mentioned by Justin Sun was actually a margin call caused by extreme market conditions when the exchange was operating its margin business, and it had already been processed financially through company revenue; therefore, it should not be regarded as an undisclosed "financial loophole."

In fact, this was not their first confrontation; the grudge between Sun and Li began shortly after the sale of Huobi. In May 2023, Justin Sun posted an accusation that Li Lin's brother, Li Wei, had repeatedly obtained a large amount of zero-cost HT through improper means and sold them, stating that in order to protect the interests of the HT community, those tokens would be recovered and destroyed. Subsequently, Huobi founder Li Lin responded in his Moments, hoping the other party would provide evidence. He stated that if it was confirmed Li Wei obtained zero-cost HT through illegal means, he was willing to compensate Huobi with 10 times the amount of HT in his own name; if it was not true, he hoped Huobi would return the user's legal assets.

Justin Sun did not follow up with definitive evidence, and the accusatory tweet was deleted. Although it triggered widespread questioning of Huobi's internal management by the community, the revelation ultimately came to nothing. However, the grievances between Li Lin and Justin Sun did not end there. In February 2025, due to the "$30 million financial hole," the two crypto moguls once again launched a public relations war online.

The photo of Justin Sun and Li Lin embracing and drinking a "cross-armed toast" at the conference has given the outside world more room for speculation about their relationship. In the photo, the two are talking and laughing, behaving with intimate proximity like old friends who haven't seen each other in a long time, not at all like two people who had a $30 million financial dispute two months ago. This may be a piece of public acting by the crypto giants, or it may be a reconciliation after a private settlement; the "frenemy" relationship between Sun and Li remains a mystery.

Speaking of cross-armed toasts, this is not the first time Li Lin has drunk one with other crypto moguls. As early as 2018, Li Lin and OKEx (the predecessor of OKX) boss Star Xu were seen drinking and eating skewers together with their shirts off on the roadside, drinking a cross-armed toast at a dinner party. That year, when OKEx could not withdraw coins and Star Xu was invited for tea, it was also Li Lin who supported Star Xu in the community. Although there was some element of performance, it indeed expressed the vision of entrepreneurs cherishing each other and hoping to make the crypto circle better and stronger together in an era when the crypto world was emerging and full of both opportunities and risks. Later, Star Xu called out to Li Lin: "Having drunk a cross-armed toast makes us true brothers. Thanks to Huobi's Mr. Li Lin for stepping forward to heal my pain."

CZ and Justin Sun: Frenemies and a Love-Hate Relationship

Both Justin Sun and CZ are regarded as leaders in the crypto field. Justin Sun's TRON and the Huobi HTX he leads form an ecological complementarity and competitive relationship with CZ's Binance. Both have also appeared on the cover of "Forbes" magazine, highlighting their global influence. As industry pioneers, the bits and pieces of their journey together also constitute a history of the crypto industry's development.

As early as 2015, He Yi, Justin Sun, and Qudian CEO Luo Min appeared on the stage of the reality show "Only You." They wore onesies with goat horns and white hats, performing a song called "The Song of the Twisted Goat." At that time, He Yi and CZ had only known each other for a year, working together at OKcoin as Vice President and CTO, respectively. The wheels of fate were turning quietly; these young people, still immersed in the excitement of entering a new industry, probably could not have imagined that the future crypto industry would be overturned because of them.

The early crypto world was full of infinite possibilities and imagination, and Justin Sun and CZ were in a stage of mutual cooperation and achievement. In October 2018, Justin Sun and CZ met at the World Investment Forum in Geneva. At the time of the 73rd anniversary of the United Nations, Binance established the Blockchain Charity Foundation and launched a blockchain-based donation platform to provide support for countries such as Uganda that were suffering from floods and landslides. The Tron Foundation also donated $3 million to support blockchain charity.

2019 was the "honeymoon period" for Justin Sun and CZ. On January 28, the BitTorrent (BTT) project previously acquired by Justin Sun completed the issuance of 59.4 billion BTT on Binance's blockchain asset issuance platform, Binance Launchpad, taking about 14 minutes and raising $7.1 million. BitTorrent became Binance's first IEO project, marking the beginning of the early cooperation between CZ and Justin Sun. After TRON launched TRC20-USDT in April, Binance quickly provided support, launching an activity of "Deposit TRC20-USDT to enjoy 16% annualized return," introducing a large amount of liquidity into the TRON ecosystem. At the same time, Justin Sun frequently stood up for Binance on Weibo and Twitter, vigorously promoting the results of this cooperation. During that time, the cooperation between the two was exemplary—Justin Sun used the influence of the Binance platform to promote the TRON ecosystem, while Binance used TRON's new chain and high-interest subsidies to attract more USDT users, achieving a win-win situation for both parties.

In September 2019, Binance and Paxos Trust Company collaborated to launch the stablecoin Binance USD (BUSD), and in less than two years, the market value of BUSD quickly exceeded $1 billion. On September 5, 2022, shortly after the market value of BUSD reached $20 billion, Binance announced that it would stop using three stablecoins—USDC, USDP, and TUSD—that competed with BUSD, officially declaring war on the stablecoin giant USDC.

The smooth issuance and great success of BUSD allowed CZ to use his platform advantages to build his crypto empire step by step. Just one month after Binance announced the conversion plan, on October 28, 2022, Huobi Global, which had just been taken over by Justin Sun for 20 days, released an announcement stating that HUSD had triggered Article (11) of the Huobi Global Token Management Rules and would stop trading and be delisted that day, with HUSD in user accounts being directly converted into USDT. Once the news came out, the market was in an uproar; HUSD lost its peg and its value fell rapidly, dropping to $0.3 on November 1, after which it never recovered and completely exited the stablecoin competitive market.

Coincidentally, HUSD was also a stablecoin project launched by Huobi in cooperation with Paxos. In a blog post commemorating the first anniversary of HUSD in July 2022, the Paxos team also wrote: "Paxos now supports 3 of the world's top 6 stablecoins, and we are proud. As the first regulated trust company and qualified digital asset custodian, Paxos has unique expertise in this market."

One month after the commemorative blog post was published, Paxos co-founder Rich Teo appeared at a high-end overseas restaurant with Binance CEO CZ, which caused quite a scandal in the crypto circle at the time. Two months later, HUSD announced its termination, and Paxos became the "full-time housekeeper" for BUSD. The community speculated that this dinner might have involved strategic discussions about the stablecoin market, which in turn affected Huobi's decision on HUSD; however, these guesses lacked direct evidence and were not officially confirmed.

Two months after HUSD was delisted, on December 30, 2022, Binance announced that it had completed the integration of Binance-Peg BUSD on the TRON network, and BUSD deposits and withdrawals were now open on the TRON network. Justin Sun also actively forwarded and promoted the cooperation with Binance on Twitter. Regardless of whether the two had private friction over stablecoin cooperation before, at least for now, everything seemed like a scene of prosperity and harmony.

But the game between the two over stablecoins continued in the dark. In May 2023, Justin Sun transferred 405 million TUSD into Binance, suspected of being used to participate in the SUI token mining activity of Binance LaunchPool. This triggered a debate in the crypto community, with some believing that CZ was helping a whale, allowing Justin Sun to obtain new SUI tokens through his originally huge amount of capital via the exchange's mining pool incentives. The community accused such an action of being suspected "insider trading." As public opinion fermented, Justin Sun responded that the original purpose of the transfer was to "bridge the price difference" as a TUSD market maker and improve liquidity, rather than to participate in the activity. For the portion of the funds that participated in the activity due to an error, he had contacted the exchange for a refund. Subsequently, CZ also publicly stated that if Justin Sun used these TUSD to participate in mining, action would be taken against him, emphasizing that LaunchPool is for retail users rather than "whales." A farce of $405 million also ended with disclaimers from both bosses.

It is worth noting that TUSD is the "successor token" to BUSD. On February 13, 2023, US SEC enforcement officers issued a "Wells Notice" to Paxos, stating that the BUSD issued and listed by Paxos was an unregistered security and planned to sue Paxos for violating investor protection laws. Under strong regulatory intervention, Binance continuously delisted BUSD trading pairs, and BUSD, which once had a market value of $22 billion, gradually exited the stage of history. After this, Binance turned its attention to another stablecoin—TUSD. Binance took a series of measures, such as adding TUSD trading pairs, opening the TUSD Pool in Launchpool, and making BTC/TUSD trading pairs commission-free. Strong support allowed the BTC/TUSD trading pair to surpass the BTC/USDT trading pair in March 2023, becoming the trading pair with the largest trading volume on Binance. After the suspension of BUSD, Binance's support for other stablecoins such as TUSD and USDC also put new pressure on Justin Sun's TRC-USDT.

On April 3, 2025, Justin Sun suddenly posted a message accusing First Digital Trust (FDT) of being insolvent and unable to fulfill customer fund redemptions. FDT is the issuer of the stablecoin FDUSD and the asset management institution for TUSD. On the afternoon of that day, Justin Sun stated in a live broadcast conference that as early as 2023, Techteryx had launched an investigation into FDT and found that a large amount of entrusted customer funds had been misappropriated. At that time, Justin Sun provided assistance to Techteryx with his own personal funds, ensuring that TUSD had sufficient liquidity, while TrueCoin was suspected of conspiring with FDT to illegally transfer $456 million in TUSD reserves to a Dubai company. First Digital subsequently responded to the allegations: the dispute only involves TUSD and is completely unrelated to FDUSD, and First Digital is fully solvent.

Undoubtedly, this move and the subsequent suspected behavior of Binance "only notifying big players in small groups and fleecing retail investors" plunged CZ and He Yi into another emergency public relations crisis, triggering market dissatisfaction with centralized exchanges. Justin Sun's role in this turmoil was much more noble, exposing insider trading of capital and protecting the rights and interests of all investors. Perhaps Justin Sun's original intention was just to get back his 500 million yuan deposit, and the matter had no direct connection with Binance, but when FDUSD experienced a short-term decoupling, Binance, which was at the center of the storm, was still dragged into the public outcry.

Despite the competition between the two in business, Justin Sun has spoken out for CZ many times in public events in the crypto circle. After the SEC's lawsuit against Binance broke out in June 2023, Justin Sun publicly expressed his support for CZ on social media, saying, "As a friend of CZ, I am willing to support CZ unswervingly and believe that justice will be served." In November 2023, CZ announced his resignation from the position of Binance CEO. Justin Sun highly evaluated CZ's contribution on social media, mentioning that he had known CZ for nearly ten years, affirming his leadership and industry-driving force, saying he "pushed the industry to unprecedented heights," and emphasizing that cooperation with Binance would continue to be strengthened in the future.

When the photo of Li Lin and Justin Sun's "cross-armed toast" went viral on social media, and when CZ and Justin Sun were talking and laughing at the summit, it was difficult for onlookers to tell whether this was public acting or a sincere reconciliation. But perhaps the answer is not important—in the crypto industry, the consensus of interests is far more cohesive than personal grievances. From the early lawless days to today's wave of compliance, the history of these moguls' games is exactly the footnote to the industry's evolution. Their grievances and cooperation are essentially exploring a path that both complies with the regulatory framework and does not lose the original intention of the blockchain.

As Justin Sun said in a "Forbes" interview: "True innovators must adhere to long-termism." When the smiles in the group photo were frozen in time, the night view of Hong Kong was still brilliant, and the script of the crypto industry was still being written—the next act might be more intense competition, or it might be another hand-in-hand effort in a crisis. The only certainty is that the charm of this industry is hidden in these stories of "frenemies."