Crypto: CZ calls on states to tokenize their stock markets

Changpeng Zhao wants to push states to tokenize their shares in order to make them accessible to investors around the world. The founder of Binance imagines a market where national stablecoins, stock market securities and crypto liquidity would circulate on the same infrastructures. But regulations could slow down this ambition.

CZ wants to globalize access to shares

Changpeng Zhao calls on governments to issue their own stablecoins and place their shares on the blockchain. According to him, this combination could attract foreign capital while increasing the digital use of national currencies. This vision already supports the rise of tokenized actions.

The principle seems simple. A traditional stock can be represented by a crypto or a token exchangeable on a blockchain infrastructure. An investor located abroad could then obtain exposure to a company without going through all the traditional international brokerage channels.

For CZ, countries would be better off allowing global buyers rather than limiting their stock markets to a local audience. Tokenization would thus transform a national financial center into a market potentially open twenty-four hours a day.

Binance banks on its crypto market depth

CZ's bet also relies on the power of the Binance crypto platform. Once their assets are tokenized, issuers would need a platform capable of bringing together a large number of buyers and sellers. Binance naturally hopes to become this global gateway.

Liquidity represents a major issue. Tokenizing an action is not enough. It is also necessary to guarantee deep order books, consistent prices and sufficiently fast execution. Without this, the token risks remaining a little-used digital copy of the original asset.

Binance Research estimates that tokenized assets could attract hundreds of millions of additional users in the coming years. Large financial institutions are also accelerating their own tokenization projects, particularly for bonds, funds and stocks.

The promise, however, contains a gray area. Some tokens actually represent securities held in reserve. Others simply reproduce their price through a synthetic product. In this second case, the investor does not necessarily have the same rights as a traditional shareholder.

In particular, it may be deprived of voting rights, direct access to dividends or clear protection in the event of bankruptcy of the issuer. The quality of asset custody, audits and the reimbursement mechanism therefore become essential.

Tokenization can simplify access, but it also adds new intermediaries. An investor must trust the token issuer, the custodian of the shares and the trading platform. Blockchain or crypto does not automatically remove these risks.

MiCA threatens Binance's European ambition

The main obstacle remains regulatory. Binance is still seeking MiCA authorization allowing it to operate in the 27 countries of the European Union. Its request, filed with the Greek regulator, could be rejected before the end of the transitional period.

The crypto platform, however, contests the idea of ​​a refusal already decided. She claims to have worked with the authorities for eighteen months and to have received no adverse official notification. Without a license before July, its access to the European market would nevertheless become strongly compromised.

This uncertainty shows the limit of the CZ project. Global liquidity cannot circumvent national rules on securities, anti-money laundering or investor protection. Stocks remain among the most closely watched financial instruments.

CZ sees tokenization as a way to open up stock exchanges to those who do not have access to them. But Binance will first have to convince regulators that it can manage this opening without weakening investors' rights. Faced with pressure from MiCA, its global ambition now depends less on technology than on authorizations obtained country by country.