On April 30, at Token2049, Binance founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) spoke in a fireside chat about the current crypto cycle, digital asset strategies, and his overall investment thesis. Interestingly, CZ also said, "Europe isn't part of the discussion—it's missing on the map," hinting that Europe has not yet been open to a strategic crypto reserve. CZ said, "We are advising many countries (except in Europe) on how to set up a crypto reserve like in the US," highlighting increasing global interest in considering Bitcoin and other digital assets as part of sovereign reserves.

Notably, ​the UK introduced draft legislation to regulate crypto exchanges yesterday, April 29. However, no progress has been made in establishing a crypto reserve so far. On the topic of market drivers, CZ—a former Bloomberg staffer—attributed Bitcoin ETFs to stoking the current cycle.

"This cycle so far has been the ETFs. And it's almost all Bitcoin," he said. While Ethereum ETFs are picking pace, most of the crypto sector’s boom has been indebted to Bitcoin.

CZ remained bullish, saying, "Bitcoin success will spill over to the others eventually. It takes time, though. I think we are still early."

CZ expressed some forward-looking views on the convergence of AI and crypto, noting that "crypto will be the currency for AI" and adding that artificial intelligence won't use cards or traditional financial rails to transact. On stablecoins, CZ acknowledged that the industry had initially underestimated their longevity, saying, "We thought [it]would be just an in-between thing,” which is another way of saying it is a surprise that these fiat-pegged tokens have turned out to be a building block of worldwide digital finance.