Changpeng Zhao (CZ)’s Tour - The meanings & Gains

CZ is undeniably one of the top tier influencers. His tweets on certain topics usually lead to the increase in value for the coins, or even create trends. 

Particularly, CZ’s recent move to many different countries and attending meetings with government leaders are classified as a macro event. Therefore, this has been a recent concern of many. 

Key Insights: 

• The crypto industry is expanding with Binance’s efforts in creating win-win relationships. 
• Crypto is based on blockchain, which is proven a revolutionary technology. Cooperation with Binance’s universe will also help governments gain investment opportunities from tech companies globally. 
• CZ’s tour resulted in some partnerships about accepting business licenses and legal advisory from experienced Crypto & blockchain organizations like BNB Chain & Binance’s Universe

All about CZ & Binance

Who is CZ?

Changpeng Zhao (CZ) is the founder and the CEO of the biggest crypto centralized exchange by annual volume - Binance. CZ was previously a member of the development team of Blockchain.info and the CTO of OKCoin. 

Up until January 1, 2022, CZ is ranked among the top 20 richest men in the world, according to Bloomberg Billionaires Index. 

To figure out more about CZ, let’s have a look at this article: Who is CZ?

Binance’s current resources

• The biggest centralized exchange by trading volume + Binance DEX + other huge DEXes (like PancakeSwap, etc.).
• BNB Chain using blockchain technology with fast speed, low fees and secure transactions.
• The BNB Chain ecosystem with more than 1,370 projects in a variety of different categories. 
• CZ’s personal reputation and branding images.
• Strong social networks: Binance purchased part of Forbes - a famous and reliable newspaper. 
• Research and learning departments like Binance Academy and Binance Research. 
• One of the most popular wallets in the crypto space - Trust Wallet, with more than 5 million active users globally (statistics updated on Apr 27, 2022).
• One of the most well-known and impressive performing venture capital - Binance Labs, with significant return on investments (ROI) e.g. the investment of AXS token (Axie Infinity) at 134,065%.
• Binance Charity, an organization which used $10M to support Ukraine with necessities, immediate foods, shelters to help those people who suffered from the war against Russia.
• Other major Binance subsidiaries like Binance Uganda, Binance Jersey, Binance Lite Australia, Binance US, Binance Singapore.
• And more, etc.

Countries CZ have been to & The meaning

The list of countries where CEO's Binance visited namely, UAE, France, Italia, Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, El Salvador, Spain, Bahrain, Kazakhstan, Germany, Malaysia, Viet Nam, Philippines, Palau.

At the moment, CZ had visited more than 13 countries in his journey to expand crypto, blockchain adoption and ask for permissions from governments to help Binance business grow. CZ and Binance’s efforts in helping educate, giving advice and contributing to the crypto and blockchain real-life applications will be revealed in the following part.

The Crypto market and blockchain technology’s potential have just began & bring crypto adoption

On Mar 27th of 2021, CZ tweeted that we are still in the early stage.

This means that retail investors have opportunities to gain advantages of being early in this space to earn more than people who come later. Because once the industry is big enough, the earnings per person will eventually decrease as more people will share the same “pizza”. 

Examining CZ’s assumption with global financial markets like stocks, bonds, derivatives. In specific, crypto market cap are just at $875B when compared to representative of stock market - New York Stocks Exchange s (NYSE), their market cap is now at $27T. 

⇒ It demonstrated that the crypto market has more room to grow. 

Furthermore, blockchain technology is not just an equity market solely like other financial markets listed above. Blockchain is a combination of sets of useful tools and protocols to solve real-life problems in any aspect of life from games, metaverse, transparency work, solving centralization, reaching mutual consensus, giving financial services access to unqualified people, and cross-border instant payments. 

Bitcoin or other crypto currencies is just the tip of the iceberg for investors and global users to get to know more about blockchain and once they realize the blockchain use cases ⇒ mass adoption is only a matter of time.

We are just in the beginning of a life cycle of blockchain technology. CZ also means that this field is still unknown to many people until it becomes widely used (mass adoption). This life cycle has previously also applied to internet technologies, etc. 

Blockchain technology are solving real problems

Binance, as an industry leader, is contributing efforts and resources to solve real world issues. It could be from payments, transparency in any aspect of life, and help innocent people to be saved from war. 

Some use case examples:

• Fighting currencies’ devaluation: Inflation is a silent killer when it contributes to the higher prices of products. It brings pressure for the country's citizens to afford it. 
• UkraineDAO was created by many parties to join forces and help Ukraine survive during war. Binane has also given innocent people in Ukraine $10M to provide neccessities, food, and shelter for them to survive.

• Other use cases could come from DeFi services like lending money, swapping between currencies with low liquidity, management platform for diversified portfolio , analytics dashboard for tracking cash flows, etc. 

Results of CZ’s journey worldwide?

UAE

Binance’s intention to set up headquarters in Dubai is not directly related to the company's ability to increase influence in the crypto market. CZ has Canadian nationality but his origin is from China. If he chose to locate its headquarters in this country, his business will be vastly restricted. 

For example, the case of Huobi exchange, the largest exchange based in China. But on September 24, 2021, they were also forced to move their headquarters out of this country.

Therefore, CZ also needed to find Binance a place to "settle down" and not have to worry about legal issues. And UAE was chosen. At the end of 2021, CZ also promoted this, although it was only a closed meeting with government officials of the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM). However, from the view in the interests of related parties, reaching a common consensus is completely grounded. 

On the UAE side: CZ's Binance is in the crypto business, this is a potential new segment with good business results and can bring in revenue for Abu Dhabi. In addition, the headquarters of Binance can create a buzz for technology companies around the world to pour in → Money flows back into this Gulf country.

As for Binance: Because of operating in the new technology industry and if a good mutual agreement is reached, the Binance exchange will enjoy some tax incentives and better protection by law. → Lower operating costs and protection by legislation in an innovative country → A springboard for Binance to grow and set the stage for future expansion.

⇒ Result: As of now, Binance is allowed to be a crypto broker in Abu Dhabi. Binance says it has been approved “in principle” by the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Abu Dhabi Global Markets to operate as a digital asset broker-dealer.

Besides, CZ bought a house in Dubai. This brought a positive signal in the conversation between CZ, the Dubai government and UAE in general. (according to Market Insiders). 

France

In April 2022, CZ had a trip to France. France is a member of the European Union (EU). A year ago, more than 12 countries including the UK, Germany, and Italy had some warnings about Binance.

France is positioned as the hub for Binance's growth in the European region. Therefore, Binance is very active in realizing their ambition with plans to invest 100 million euros in the country (according to Reuters).

⇒ Result: In May 2022, Binance was allowed to obtain a business license and provide crypto trading services in France. CZ's application for a license to operate as a digital asset service provider (DASP) was accepted, which will serve as a springboard for other EU countries to open up to Binance.

Italia

On May 10, 2022, CZ visited Italy. Italy is one of the EU countries in 2021 that have warned about Binance exchange. However, the CEO of Binance arrived in Rome and spoke at the "Blockchain technology in social institutions'' conference. This program is organized by government-licensed blockchain innovation businesses.

⇒ Result: Binance has officially obtained a license to conduct business in Italy. 

Brazil

On March 16-17, 2022, CZ went to find Brazilian legislators with the desire to negotiate a legal corridor. In addition, he also wants to find more personnel to strengthen the team of 100 people operating for Binance in this country. And yet, CZ also wants to buy payment companies and banks here.

⇒ Result: Binance signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to buy a Brazilian stockbroker - Sim. At the same time, Brazil has pending legislation that will require crypto exchanges to be duly licensed. This will require opening a local office or acquiring an existing operator.

Binance has worked hard to negotiate with authorities and politicians in Sao Paulo. However, until June 2022, Brazil has not announced any more official announcements about the cooperation with Binance.

Uruguay

In March 2022, CZ visited Uruguay - a country in Latin America. He had a meeting and talked with the president of this country. The topic of the conversation deals with many issues, including crypto and blockchain.

⇒ Result: The two parties did not have any officially announced signings or agreements regarding the business of Binance.

Argentina

Binance Labs chose Buenos Aires, the capital of one of the most crypto-friendly countries in Latin America, as the regional hub for the Binance Labs Incubation Program 2022.

⇒ Result: Binance and the Argentine government have come to a mutual agreement where Binance Labs will invest up to 50,000 USD for each blockchain project in this country.

El Salvador

El Salvador is certainly a name that cannot be off the list of CZ's visits. This is the first country in the world to accept Bitcoin as legal tender as a means of payment.

In March 2022, CZ had a meeting with the El Salvador president Nayib Bukele to discuss the country's Bitcoin-related project. CZ believes that by becoming the first country to accept Bitcoin, El Salvador will become a country with a developed economy thanks to cryptocurrency.

In addition, CZ's visit was also to help EL Zonte, which is known as the Bitcoin beach in the country, in applying ATMs for crypto payments.

⇒ Result: Both sides did not come to any major cooperation. However, this trip of CZ is considered a historic milestone when the leader of the world's largest exchange visited the world's first Bitcoin-accepting country.

Spain

In January 2022, Spain was not in favor of the crypto market when it issued an order restricting KOLs from receiving crypto ads while they did not have a clear legal framework on this issue.

However, Binance's relationship with Spain is currently quite good. During the recent Covid-19 outbreak, Binance Charity supported Spain and many other countries to overcome the pandemic with a $4 million bailout package.

Previously, Binance offered crypto derivatives trading services, but they suspended it because of the government’s concerns about the risks in the investment process and because Binance did not yet have an official license from the Spanish bank to do so.

⇒ Result: After CZ's visit on April 19, 2022, Binance has been in the process of applying for a license from the Spanish securities authority (CNMV) as a crypto broker. . In addition, both sides have not announced any new laws or cooperation.

This shows that Spain is somewhat cautious with Binance and the Crypto market.

Bahrain

Bahrain is one of the three countries in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) that have accepted Binance's business license.

On May 24, 2022, Binance officially received a Level 4 classification license as a Crypto Service Provider (CASP) from the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB). Level 4 is a special license that enables Binance to provide trading services to investors under the supervision of the Bahraini legislature.

Allowing Binance to offer services under a Level 4 license is a first in Bahrain's history, and governance is particularly important for the country in its integration with the global Crypto market.

Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan is one of the first movers in crypto and Bitcoin mining. They are also the pioneers in enacting legislation on this crypto mining issue.

On May 26, 2022, CZ visited Kazakhstan to meet the president and heads of state to discuss the vision of the domestic crypto market.

⇒ Result: After the conversation, the leaders of Kazakhstan allowed Binance to advise to create a suitable legal framework for crypto assets in this country. Then, Binance signed a MoU with Kazakhstan.

In addition, the finance ministers will also cooperate with Binance on the integration of banking infrastructure using blockchain technology in the crypto market. Along with that, the government also needs Binance to contribute in promoting the development of distributed ledger technology (DLT) in the country.

And yet, the prime minister of Kazakhstan wants Binance to support Astana Hub to make the country a blockchain hub in the world. Specifically, Binance will have to support Astana Hub by building a blockchain project in the form of a Kazakh investment and research fund to help the country's talents reach out to the world.

The above data shows that Kazakhstan's leaders are open to the crypto market and blockchain technology. Kazakhstan adapts quickly to the technology of the times and they are ambitious in leveraging the resources of Binance ⇒ to help them become the center of blockchain.

Germany

Similar to Italy after the effect from France, Germany is the destination of Binance. Germany is one of the EU members with the largest economy in the region. Because of Germany's influence on the entire EU, getting a license to operate in the country has become even more important for Binance.

On May 18, 2022, CZ had a talk with the legislators in Germany, that Binance is also recruiting more talents for the team and hopes to successfully apply for a license.

⇒ Result: Binance registered with the country's legislators as a service provider related to digital assets. However, both sides have yet to come to a common agreement and need further negotiations. From there, we can see that the views and stances of Germany and Spain towards the Crypto industry are still observations.

Viet Nam

Changpeng Zhao (CEO of Binance) had a meeting with the Deputy Chairman of the National Assembly Foreign Affairs Committee to discuss the development of the blockchain field in Vietnam. CZ expressed his goodwill to obtain a license to operate in Vietnam and committed to properly fulfill all legal obligations.

⇒ Results: He also participated in a seminar on blockchain application in digital transformation in Vietnam. However, the acceptance of Binance to operate in this country has not yet come to a conclusion.

On the other hand, blockchain technology is an essential part of the country's digital economic innovation plan in the coming years in 2025 & 2030, so the government must have their own observational plans and steps. The fact that Viet Nam sent a number of government officials to talk to CZ also shows the open spirit of our country towards this industry.

Closing thoughts

The results with most governments have been positive, leaders of nations have been very open to listen about Crypto and blockchain knowledge from industry leaders. Furthermore, many countries have given Binance and this potential industry a chance to grow and apply this revolutionary technology to help solve real world problems. 

CZ's trip may not only stop in Vietnam, Philippines or Palau but so far, he has successfully cooperated with a number of foreign governments. This is a positive signal for the Crypto market and blockchain technology and through that, CZ's efforts also gave confidence for the further development of this field in the future.