When Elon Musk, Tesla's CEO, described himself as a "Former" trillionaire amid a drop in his net worth, Binance co-founder Changpeng Zhao (창펑 자오), known as CZ, hit back with the quip "pre-rich," drawing attention in the cryptocurrency community.

Blockchain outlet U.Today reported on July 25 that Musk recently posted on social media the phrase "(Former) Trillionaire" while referring to his net worth falling below $1 trillion. Zhao left a short comment on the post saying, "New definition of pre-rich."

"Pre-rich" generally refers to someone who is not yet rich, but Zhao added humor by applying it to Musk, described as the world's richest person. In the cryptocurrency community, various reactions followed, saying it was ironic to call someone with assets of hundreds of billions of dollars "pre-rich."

The focus of the buzz was the pair's lighthearted reaction rather than the asset decline. Musk turned the sharp drop in his wealth into a joke, and Zhao broadened the exchange into meme culture with a single comment.

Musk's decline in net worth has coincided with a recent drop in SpaceX's corporate valuation. Musk is still keeping his position as the world's richest person, but since most of his wealth is tied up in his SpaceX stake, changes in the company's value are known to have directly affected his personal net worth.

When news previously emerged that Musk had recorded an asset decline of more than $100 billion, online reactions also surfaced, but Musk appeared to brush it off as a joke rather than treat it seriously. With Zhao's "pre-rich" remark added, the focus of discussion shifted from the size of the wealth to online humor and meme culture.

The two are also known for exchanging light jokes on social media. This time, Musk's "former trillionaire" line and Zhao's "pre-rich" comment meshed, once again drawing attention to a culture in the cryptocurrency community where even swings in massive wealth are consumed as material for memes and humor.

In markets, more attention is being paid to the trajectory of SpaceX's valuation than to changes in Musk's personal wealth itself. Since most of Musk's wealth consists of SpaceX shares, an analysis says whether he regains trillionaire status will ultimately depend on changes in SpaceX's corporate value.

New definition of pre-rich. https://t.co/2mEqqV89Ry