Changpeng Zhao Meets Deputy Prime Minister Madiyev in Kazakhstan
Binance founder Changpeng Zhao met with Kazakhstan's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Development Zhaslan Madiyev in Astana, stating that the local cryptocurrency industry is developing rapidly. The meeting took place at the Alem.ai International Artificial Intelligence Center.
Both parties signed a memorandum of cooperation. The government announcement covered the Ministry of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Development and the Astana International Financial Center; Binance also stated that it reached a memorandum with the National Bank of Kazakhstan. Discussion topics included exploring the issuance of stablecoins in Kazakhstan, building digital asset payment infrastructure, tax and judicial support, and new products. A demonstration of the collaboration between Binance Pay and Alatau City Bank was presented, which had piloted cryptocurrency payments earlier this year; Zhao noted that the bank's 5,000 POS terminals had integrated with Binance Pay.
The Kazakh side also promoted the Alatau CryptoCity concept and Data Center Valley, integrating the cryptocurrency park with artificial intelligence computing power into the national narrative. President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev had previously called for accelerating digitization and artificial intelligence. Madiyev publicly stated that Kazakhstan is shifting from establishing a regulatory framework to building infrastructure and implementing solutions.
The meeting participants are not ordinary officials. Zhaslan Madiyev served as the General Manager of Binance Kazakhstan from 2022 to 2024, became the Minister of Digital Development in May 2024, and was promoted to Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Development in September 2025. With backgrounds from Columbia University and MIT, he previously worked at Morgan Stanley, sovereign funds, and central banking systems. Zhao referred to him as an old friend.
The memorandum is not a license itself. The issuance of stablecoins, payment licenses, and judicial details still await subsequent implementation. Concurrently, Zhao discussed virtual asset regulation in Kyrgyzstan and mentioned meeting Balaji, whose online school operates in Kazakhstan. Several Central Asian countries are treating exchange founders as policy advisors, with Kazakhstan placing its former local general manager directly into the cabinet.
In market mechanisms, this is a channel expansion driven by regulatory arbitrage, not the launch of new products. What is being bought is the expectation of "licensed implementation, stablecoins, and payment entry points," with capital flows related to trading pairs and projects associated with Binance Pay and local bank channels; what is being sold is the narrative of purely offshore exchanges without local settlement. The beneficiaries are the Binance system that has signed memorandums with the government and local banks looking to attract deposits and POS; the pressured parties are exchanges that have not yet entered the Astana International Financial Center framework. The state seeks computing power parks and payment closed loops, while exchanges want fiat currency entry and exit points.
The revolving door is more solid than the memorandum: those who set the rules have previously operated the same licensed network.
Source: Public Information
ABAB AI Insight
After Binance's high-profile settlements in Europe and the U.S. and the sentencing of executives, it has shifted growth to jurisdictions willing to provide identity. Kazakhstan's approach is more extreme: first allowing the former general manager to manage local entities, then appointing him to oversee the national digital assets and artificial intelligence department. The Astana International Financial Center was originally established as an offshore financial enclave with separate legislation, while CryptoCity and Data Center Valley aim to expand this enclave into urban sectors. Zhao is also acting as a public advisor in Kyrgyzstan, indicating that Central Asia is being treated as a single regulatory corridor rather than isolated public relations efforts.
Capital movement involves payment licenses, stablecoin reserve accounts, and land for data centers, rather than burning through trading and mining subsidies. Binance Pay entering bank POS means connecting user balances to daily collections; if stablecoins are issued locally, reserves and settlements will fall under the National Bank's purview. The motivations are symmetrical: the government seeks non-resource exports and computing power taxation, while exchanges want fiat currency pathways. Whoever controls the issuance of stablecoins controls the valve for cross-border settlements.
This is analogous to the UAE issuing licenses to global exchanges, El Salvador adopting Bitcoin as legal tender, and Singapore treating payment licenses as tickets to financial centers. Kazakhstan is transitioning from "allowing trading" to "allowing settlements." Unlike the UAE, the policy leaders come directly from the local management of the exchange, resulting in a shorter revolving door.
Structural changes are a result of regulatory shifts combined with capital concentration. The mechanism is that when major countries raise compliance costs, medium-sized resource countries exchange cabinet positions for infrastructure and branding; exchanges trade memorandums for fiat currency entry points. Once stablecoins and POS are connected, trading volume will no longer be confined to wallets but will enter retail collections. The rule-makers and license beneficiaries were once part of the same personnel line, leading to faster implementation and potential conflicts of interest being embedded in the system.
ABAB News · Cognitive Laws
- After regulations are finalized, the next battle will be over settlement rights.
- The revolving door will determine who can implement solutions faster than memorandums.
- Once fiat currency entry points are opened, trading volume will leave wallets.