Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, also known as CZ, said at Bitcoin Asia 2026 in Hong Kong that the cryptocurrency industry has overcome its harshest crypto winter and retains solid fundamentals. He described the outlook for real-world asset (RWA) tokenization as bright, saying on-chain assets can reduce time and cross-border constraints, connect global investors and improve liquidity for small and mid-sized assets. Zhao called the United Arab Emirates the most advanced major crypto jurisdiction, while saying the United States is progressing rapidly on stablecoin and exchange regulation. He described Japan as friendly, Hong Kong as fast-growing and Singapore as relatively conservative. Zhao also said decentralized exchanges (DEXs) have matured in technology and user awareness over the past eight years, and that further global regulatory easing could enable a larger expansion of the industry. In broader comments on Hong Kong, he has said the city’s financial system is well suited to innovation and Web3, but needs greater regulatory flexibility and continued financial experimentation to maintain its position as Asia’s financial leader.