Binance's BNB token and bitcoin (BTC) plunged Monday as a rumor spread that the crypto exchange's CEO faced an international law enforcement request to detain him.
Turns out, the catalyst for all this was an encrypted message contained in a tweet that was apparently not meant for the public's eyes – at least not yet – and that might've just been a wild guess.
"Interpol Red Notice for CZ," read the tweet from @cobie, who is well-followed by the crypto community. Not only is that account private, the text of the message was actually a garble of letters and numbers. It had been encrypted using the SHA-256 hash function, the same cryptography that secures many cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin.