The former CEO of Binance, Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, is engaging in the crypto strategy of Kyrgyzstan. The co-founder of Binance has proposed to the country to adopt Bitcoin and BNB as the cornerstone of a national reserve of digital assets.
CZ Proposes a National Reserve in Bitcoin and BNB for Kyrgyzstan
In a post published on May 5th, CZ stated that he recommended the National Investment Agency of Kyrgyzstan (NIA) to start with Bitcoin and BNB. The choice is far from trivial: CZ alone holds 64% of the circulating supply of BNB, totaling 94 million tokens valued at nearly $55 billion. A public reserve in BNB could mechanically strengthen his own position in the market.
Since April, CZ has been officially and unofficially advising several governments on crypto regulatory frameworks. Kyrgyzstan is now among his privileged interlocutors. “This work makes a lot of sense,” sums up the former Binance CEO.
Bitcoin and BNB in the Spotlight
Less than a month after the announcement of CZ’s role, Binance signed a memorandum of agreement with NIA for the deployment of Binance Pay. The goal: introduce crypto payments in the country and lay the foundation for a local blockchain ecosystem.
This partnership goes beyond simple payments. Binance Academy will collaborate with Kyrgyz authorities to implement educational programs around blockchain, signaling a desire to embed crypto in the country’s economic and institutional fabric.
Binance Pay Lands in Kyrgyzstan
The Central Asian country is accelerating on all fronts. President Sadyr Japarov recently approved a law allowing a pilot project for a central bank digital currency (MNBC), with official recognition of the digital som as a legal unit.
Another ongoing project: a stablecoin pegged to gold, called “Gold Dollar” (USDKG), indexed on the US dollar and backed by $500 million of state gold reserves. This positions Kyrgyzstan as an unexpected crypto laboratory, at a time when other countries are still hesitant to take the plunge.
