- CZ Zhao advises Kyrgyzstan to adopt Bitcoin and BNB for national crypto reserves.
- Binance partners with Kyrgyz government to launch Binance Pay and boost crypto education.
- Kyrgyzstan advances digital finance with CBDC pilot and $500M gold-backed stablecoin.
Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, co-founder and former CEO of Binance, has recommended Bitcoin and BNB as foundational assets for Kyrgyzstan’s national cryptocurrency reserves, signaling a deepening relationship between the Central Asian nation and the global crypto giant.
Zhao also shared a post on social media platform X in which he advised the Kyrgyzstan government to invest in Bitcoin and Binance Coin (BNB) as one of its national reserve strategies, as evidenced in the document that he shared on X.
His advice comes just follow his recent involvement with Kyrgyzstan’s National Investment Agency (NIA) as they work on blockchain and cryptocurrencies issues but which currently finds him acting in an advisory capacity.
Zhao’s $55B Stake Shows Crypto Influence
Zhao’s proposal contains weight to it in the crypto space. As Forbes reports in a 2024 piece, Zhao owns around 94 million BNB tokens, or 64% of the cryptocurrency’s circulating supply. If the current market value of this stake is taken into consideration, this stake is worth about $55 billion which places Zhao as an influential figure in the digital asset economy.
On April 3, Zhao confirmed the he has both informally and formally advised governments on blockchain frameworks and cryptocurrency adoption strategies. Talking about this advisory role, he said it is extremely meaningful and that this is the outlet that he can use to bring crypto integration at the national level.
As a new strategic partnership with Kyrgyzstan was unveiled by Binance one day before Zhao’s latest proposal, on the news development was gaining momentum. As per NIA’s official websites, on May 4, Binance and NIA signed a memorandum of understanding for the establishment of a platform that facilitates crypto transactions without barriers, called Binance Pay.
This partnership also includes the aim to stretch blockchain education, with Binance Academy partnering with government agencies in order to create and put together crypto resource curricula.
Kyrgyzstan Pushes Forward With CBDC Pilot
It is consistent with indications from Binance’s current CEO, Richard Teng, who told the Financial Times in an April 17 interview that Binance is advising nations on crypto reserves management and development.
Meanwhile, Kyrgyzstan is becoming a first mover in the digital asset space. Legislation that began a pilot Program for a central bank digital currency (CBDC), while granting law tender status to the digital form of the national currency was signed on April 17, by President Sadyr Zhaparov. It is one of the legislative moves that underline the country’s commitment to digitising finance.
Besides the CBDC project mentioned earlier, the Kyrgyz government is also said to be working on a gold back stablecoin called the Gold Dollar (USDKG). The USDKG will have $500 million in gold reserves from the Ministry of Finance backing it up, and is designed to be pegged to the U.S. dollar and be used as a stable store of value and medium of exchange in the country’s developing digital economy.
This is another significant step in the process of Kyrgyzstan moving to a blockchain enabled financial system, by means of suggested adoption of Bitcoin and BNB as reserve assets. Kyrgyzstan may be headlining other emerging economies interested in building sovereign digital assets as CZ Zhao has influence over Binance, and the company is expanding its presence in the region.
