Donald Trump

President Donald Trump

Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, the former CEO of cryptocurrency exchange Binance and co-founder of YZi Labs, said he is in talks with “probably a dozen governments” about tokenizing their assets.
Speaking on a panel at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland on Thursday, Zhao <a href="https://x.com/yzilabs/status/2014260340285219038" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">said</a> he had been engaged with several unnamed countries’ governments as part of efforts related to tokenization. The former CEO said tokenization was a “huge” proven aspect of the crypto industry, along with “exchanges and stablecoins.”
“I’m talking with probably a dozen governments about tokenizing some of their assets, because this way the government can actually realize the financial gains first and use that to develop those industries,” said Zhao.
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 <img alt="Government, Changpeng Zhao, Davos, Binance, Tokenization" src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2026-01/019be660-1cb3-7e19-803d-a773e9b192b4.png" title="">
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 Changpeng Zhao speaking in Davos on Thursday. Source: <a href="https://x.com/yzilabs/status/2014260340285219038" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" title="https://x.com/yzilabs/status/2014260340285219038">YZi Labs</a>
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Zhao has <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/kyrgyzstan-state-stablecoin-launch-binance">worked directly with government officials in Kyrgyzstan</a> as part of efforts to push the country’s som-pegged stablecoin. The Pakistan Crypto Council, established in March 2025, <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/pakistan-appoints-changpeng-zhao-crypto-adviser">named Zhao as an adviser</a>, and Malaysian government officials reportedly <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/malaysia-mulls-crypto-policy-after-talks-with-uae-binance-founder-cz">discussed a potential crypto regulatory framework</a> with him in January 2025.&nbsp;
Related: <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/changpeng-zhao-regained-power-between-prison-pardon">How Changpeng Zhao regained power between prison and pardon</a>
At Davos, Zhao also highlighted difficulties with adopting crypto payments, noting a convergence between traditional payment methods and using digital assets:
<blockquote>
 “Payments is something that we have tried and not really conquered, have not really started in crypto. We’ve tried, but nobody really pays in crypto.”
</blockquote>
<h2 id="speculation-around-cz-potentially-returning-to-binance">Speculation around CZ potentially returning to Binance&nbsp;</h2>
Zhao served four months in prison in 2024 as part of a deal with US authorities related to his failure to implement a proper Anti-Money Laundering program at Binance. He resigned as CEO, and his felony charge and plea agreement would likely have prevented him from <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/binance-ceo-changpeng-zhao-banned-crypto-exchange" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" title="https://cointelegraph.com/news/binance-ceo-changpeng-zhao-banned-crypto-exchange">assuming a leadership role</a> at the crypto exchange after his sentence.
However, US President Donald Trump <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/trump-pardons-binance-founder-cz" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" title="https://cointelegraph.com/news/trump-pardons-binance-founder-cz">pardoned Zhao</a> in October, clearing the way for a possible return to Binance. Zhao <a href="https://x.com/cz_binance/status/1996123163386954141" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" title="https://x.com/cz_binance/status/1996123163386954141">said</a> in December that he was “retired,” hinting at no plans to resume working at the crypto exchange.
Magazine: <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/magazine/how-crypto-laws-changed-2025-further-2026/">How crypto laws changed in 2025 — and how they’ll change in 2026</a>

Ex-Binance CEO ‘talking with probably a dozen governments‘ about tokenization

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