Back
CZ backs ASEAN crypto license passporting to cut costs and ease expansion

CZ backs ASEAN crypto license passporting to cut costs and ease expansion

Changpeng Zhao endorsed a streamlined ASEAN approval model in Manila, citing Europe’s MiCA framework and existing regional capital-markets passporting arrangements as practical precedents for crypto firms and stablecoin providers.

Fact Check
Two independent crypto news outlets (Cointelegraph and crypto.news), both dated Jul 28, 2026, report consistent details matching the claim: CZ backing ASEAN crypto license passporting with a lighter/streamlined approval process for firms already licensed in one member state, while national regulators retain review powers and impose local licensing conditions. The crypto.news article explicitly states host regulators would still assess applicants and impose local conditions, directly matching the claim's caveat. No conflicting evidence was found. No direct primary X post from @cz_binance was located, slightly limiting certainty on exact wording, but the corroborating reporting is strong.
    Reference: 12
Summary

Changpeng Zhao publicly backed a crypto license passporting system across ASEAN at the ASEAN Tech Summit Manila 2026 on July 28, saying firms already licensed in one member state should face a streamlined approval process rather than a full re-application to operate across the rest of the bloc. Speaking during the “One ASEAN, One Digital Economy” fireside chat alongside FinTech Alliance PH founding chair Lito Villanueva, Zhao endorsed Villanueva’s proposal for regional license portability. He said the main barrier to cross-border coordination is political rather than technical, arguing that broader regional competition among licensed platforms would improve services and lower costs for consumers. The proposal would matter for crypto and stablecoin service providers because ASEAN still lacks a bloc-wide passport, leaving companies to navigate separate national licensing, anti-money-laundering, conduct and capital rules in each jurisdiction. Zhao pointed to the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation as a model, under which an authorized crypto-asset service provider can expand across the bloc through notification rather than a fresh application in every country. ASEAN already has narrower mutual-recognition precedents in traditional finance, including the ASEAN Capital Markets Forum’s Collective Investment Schemes Framework, launched by Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand in 2014 and joined by the Philippines in 2021, as well as the ACMF Pass for investment advisers. No ASEAN-wide crypto passport has been announced, and any such framework would still require agreement on supervisory and consumer-protection standards across the region’s separate regulators.

Terms & Concepts
  • crypto license passporting: A system allowing a firm licensed in one jurisdiction to seek simplified approval to operate in other participating markets.
  • Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation: The European Union’s crypto rulebook, known as MiCA, which lets authorized providers expand across member states under a shared framework.
  • mutual-recognition: A regulatory approach in which one jurisdiction accepts another jurisdiction’s authorization, subject to agreed conditions.