CZ Shares Free Medical Treatment for Local Identity in UAE
Binance founder CZ (Changpeng Zhao) publicly shared a real experience in the UAE—he scheduled an MRI check-up at his own expense due to an old back injury.
He described that this check-up was a "selective" examination (elective MRI) that he voluntarily scheduled, without any obvious pain symptoms or a referral from a doctor. Such non-emergency, non-doctor-ordered checks typically require full out-of-pocket payment in most countries' healthcare systems.
CZ mentioned that at the checkout, he initially presented his previous tourist Emirates ID and was prepared to pay out of pocket. However, the staff asked if he had obtained a new local Emirates ID.
After showing his newly issued local ID, the staff informed him that the cost of the check-up was completely waived. CZ summarized this experience with "Welcome to UAE," highlighting the different treatment provided to local legal residents compared to tourists.
Mechanically, this personal experience indirectly confirms the UAE's recent strategy to attract high-net-worth individuals and professionals from the cryptocurrency and tech industries through policies like the golden visa and long-term residency permits. Once an individual transitions from "tourist status" to "local legal resident status," they not only enjoy local tax exemptions but also additional public welfare benefits. This comprehensive residency appeal is one of the key drivers for the UAE (especially Dubai) attracting many executives and founders of cryptocurrency companies to relocate their personal and business registrations.
Source: Public Information
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After pleading guilty to compliance investigations by the U.S. Department of Justice and stepping down as CEO in 2023, CZ's personal activities have gradually shifted to places like Dubai and Abu Dhabi. In recent years, the UAE has continued to relax regulations and residency policies for cryptocurrency companies and high-net-worth individuals, attracting several leading crypto firms, including Binance and Bybit, to relocate their regional headquarters or personal residences here. CZ has also publicly expressed his recognition of the business and living environment in the UAE multiple times.
The UAE government has established specialized regulatory bodies like the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) to provide a relatively clear and friendly licensing approval path for crypto companies. Additionally, policies such as the golden visa and long-term residency permits attract global capital and talent to concentrate in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. The detail that CZ can enjoy relevant benefits after obtaining a local ID is a specific part of the UAE's "residency status in exchange for comprehensive welfare" system, reflecting the government's ongoing investment in public services to secure long-term capital and talent retention.
This aligns with the logic of Singapore, Switzerland, and other regions that have long relied on low tax rates and high-quality public services to attract global high-net-worth individuals and corporate headquarters. However, the UAE has more explicitly targeted the cryptocurrency and Web3 industries in recent years, forming a three-pronged investment attraction model of "regulatory friendliness + tax incentives + public services." Currently, major global economies are competing for cryptocurrency industry headquarters and residences of high-net-worth founders, and the UAE is one of the most active participants in this competition.
This is essentially a manifestation of the concentration effect of capital and talent: the core decision-makers and capital of the global cryptocurrency industry are shifting from traditional financial centers like the U.S. and Europe to emerging hubs like the UAE, which offer higher regulatory friendliness and lower residency and tax costs. The mechanism behind this is that when a jurisdiction can simultaneously provide regulatory certainty, tax incentives, and high-quality public services, its attractiveness to high-net-worth, highly mobile populations will produce a cumulative effect, leading to the migration and concentration of capital, talent, and business registrations throughout the entire industry chain.
ABAB News · Law of Cognition
- An ID card brings a whole set of national competitiveness.
- Welfare is not free; it is part of the investment attraction cost.
- Capital flows to the most comfortable jurisdiction.