Bitcoin is at an all-time high. BNB is also at an all-time high. That alone says everything: the market is moving with Binance, and at the center of it is CZ.

Every cycle has its villain, its kingmaker, and its mastermind. In 2025 alt season, that role belongs to CZ, the man who built Binance into the most powerful machine in crypto. Like it or not, the rhythm of this alt season follows him. And truthfully, it is a good thing. CZ is not just another CEO. He is one of the few people who proved he would take the hits to keep crypto alive. He fought SBF and won. He went through the regulators’ fire, took the punishment, even served jail time, and still came back stronger. Today Binance is thriving, and BNB standing at all-time highs alongside Bitcoin is proof of that.

Binance is not just an exchange. It is the liquidity faucet. If a coin gets tapped by Binance, it suddenly finds itself swimming in volume, perpetuals, and global attention. Without that tap, good luck. That is why people call it the Binance cartel. But this cartel is not a curse. It is a sign of leadership. A sign that one player can bring order, direction, and force to a chaotic industry.

We have already seen it in action. Look at Aster. Out of nowhere, it suddenly became the face of the perp DEX narrative, standing toe-to-toe with Hyperliquid. That was not just luck. That was Binance showing its hand. When CZ moves, the market follows.

The next move looks even clearer. CAKE, Binance’s main DEX token, has been left behind for a long time. But now the timing is perfect. With Binance and BNB flying at all-time highs, bringing CAKE back into the spotlight would be the perfect play. CEX dominance feeding into DEX dominance, all within the same ecosystem.

CZ has been telegraphing moves like this for years. Sometimes quietly, sometimes loudly, but always with the same outcome. Coins touched by Binance pump harder and faster than the rest. This is how a cartel works, not in the dark shady sense, but as a powerful network steering the flow of money and attention.

The winners will be the tokens inside Binance’s circle. Launchpool projects, coins with deep Binance perp pairs, and legacy tokens that CZ decides to resurrect. The losers will be strong projects that simply do not get the nod. Alt season is roaring, but not every ship will rise.

Alt season is here, and it is not the wild, chaotic playground of the old days. This time there is a conductor. The producer of the show is CZ. If you want to ride the wave, there is only one thing to do. Follow the cartel.