One Clap From Changpeng Zhao and a BNB Chain Token Went Vertical

Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao applauded the launch of a new token on the BNB Chain with a single clap emoji. The GENIUS token surged in value within hours. Zhao later questioned if his post caused the price increase, attributing the rise to the project's own product release instead. Genius Terminal, an onchain trading platform built on BNB Chain, launched a launchpad called genius.fun on the same day that Zhao applauded.

The GENIUS token's price soared to near $0.42 before settling back down. With a market cap of around $118 million, the token is small enough that a single post can have a significant impact. Zhao later retracted his claim, acknowledging that his post may have influenced the price movement. The GENIUS token is part of a broader trend of tokenizing stock shares on the BNB Chain, with the Genius Foundation launching a launchpad that pairs new tokens with tokenized public company shares, known as bStocks.

While the foundation claims holders can send those positions to a foundation that unwraps them into real equity, skeptics argue that the concept is unproven.