CZ supporters lost more than $15,000 when former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao dismissed a massive number of messages on the platform Reach Me. Users paid about 144.71 Binance Coin (BNB), or roughly $81,000, to send paid messages to Zhao, and he replied to just 63% of them. This raises concerns regarding transparency on “pay-to-reach” platforms.
The Financial Impact on Users
Moreover, the actions of Changpeng Zhao have seen users lose $30,000 in unresponded messages. 33% of all sent messages to Zhao did not receive any response. The platform made a 50% refund back to the users for the unfailingly undelivered messages, meaning the users will see half of their lost amount while Zhao gets the remaining half for he is the platform’s number one opinion influencer (KOL).
Breakdown of User Spend:
- Total Spent: 144.71 BNB ($81,000)
- Amount Overlooked (33%): $30,000
- Refund to Users: $15,000 (50% of overlooked messages)
These statistics were revealed by Tim Copeland, Editor-In-Chief at The Block, who first reported this story.
Zhao’s Response Rate and Communication Criteria
Changpeng Zhao has a 63% read rate on Reach Me, where certain communication rules need to be abided by the users. His filtering criteria rule out project proposals and questions, which can restrict the kind of messages he is open to reading. Ultimately, this can also account for the high rate of unread messages.
CZ is probably busy with a range of other ventures, such as his advisory role on Pakistan’s Crypto Council and creating an online education platform for kids. These responsibilities can affect his availability and degree of interaction on Reach Me, and as such he has fewer interactions with the audience.
Regulatory Considerations
The “pay-to-reach” model websites have problems from the regulatory perspective. Members sign up for the sites anticipating face-to-face interaction in return for pay. Zhao’s 33% non-response rate has led to controversy regarding ethics and the functioning of these models of social interaction.
Additionally, Reach Me’s policy offers a 50% refund for non-replied messages, which may be insufficient given the monetary losses to a lot of users. With increasing growth in the site, there shall be increasing demand for more open policies regarding user interaction and transparency.
The Broader Implications
In light of this incident, serves as a reference to a very big problem in the cryptocurrency world regarding user belief and transparency in communication. Future investors and users of the platforms have to gauge the risks of interaction on pay-to-reach platforms from past experiences.
Finally, fans of CZ’s experience of losing $15,000 is a lesson to users of such platforms. Open practices and open communication must be the key to establishing belief in any online transaction or messaging platform.
