Binance and Changpeng Zhao Are Working With Countries on Crypto Policy

The U.S.’s friendly crypto stance and strategic reserve plans have reportedly prompted other countries to follow suit.

Binance is advising multiple countries on how they can create crypto regulations and strategic reserves, according to a report from the Financial Times.

So is its former CEO, Changpeng Zhao (CZ), in an apparently separate capacity.

Binance’s current CEO, Richard Teng, said the firm has been “approached by quite a lot” of countries for its assistance with digital asset regulatory frameworks.

Several approaches involved governments and sovereign wealth funds looking to establish their own crypto reserves, and the company is helping them, Teng said. He did not state which countries Binance is currently working with.

Teng speculated that the United States’ current support for crypto under the Trump administration has prompted other countries to work on similar goals. He said that the U.S. is “way ahead” on the issue compared to other jurisdictions.

The Financial Times noted that Binance’s former CEO, Changpeng Zhao, is advising Pakistan and Kyrgyzstan on crypto regulation and blockchain tech.

Sadyr Zhaparov, President of the Kyrgyz Republic, announced a memorandum of understanding with Zhao toward that goal via X on April 3.

Meanwhile, an April 7 press release from Pakistan’s Finance Division said that Zhao had been appointed as an advisor on the Pakistan Crypto Council.

The two partnerships featuring Zhao only mention broad crypto regulation and development and don’t specifically mention the possibility of crypto reserves.

Furthermore, reports do not indicate that Binance is directly involved in those efforts. Currently, Zhao is only a Binance shareholder and has no board role or executive role. He appears to be involved with countries in an independent capacity.

World governments have largely not set up strategic Bitcoin reserves. However, some have obtained BTC through other means, including through direct purchases, through transactions, or by seizing it in criminal and civil cases.

BitcoinTreasuries.net states that 12 countries hold more than $44.2 billion of Bitcoin combined. That amount is equal to 523,414 BTC, or 2.5% of the entire Bitcoin supply.

Some of that BTC could be transferred into future strategic reserves. Notably, the U.S. will finance its strategic reserve using Bitcoin once forfeited in criminal or civil proceedings, per an executive order from the Trump administration. The government could also buy additional Bitcoin for the reserve at a later date.

Several other countries are also exploring Bitcoin reserves, including Germany, Hong Kong, Russia, Brazil, and Poland, per a Forbes report this January.