[Look] Binance CEO Changpeng CZ Zhao is Back in the Philippines

Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao is in the Philippines.

❤️🇵🇭 2nd trip in 3 months. (Just passing the building. Nothing more.) pic.twitter.com/87oLHa2hzK
— CZ 🔶 Binance (@cz_binance) October 16, 2022

The last time Zhao was here was in June 2022, when he discussed with the media Binance’s plans to register as virtual asset service provider (VASP) in the Philippines.

“There are at least two licenses that we are interested in. There is VASP (Virtual Asset Service Provider) license. There is an EMI license, which is more for traditional services,” Zhao stated at that time.

BSP Imposes Ban on VASP License Application

Since then, policy think tank Infrawatch has launched a crusade to get Binance out of the country, citing violation of existing Philippine laws; Infrwatch has since sent letters to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).

However, last month, the BSP suddenly stopped all VASP applications for the next three years, citing a need to analyze the current market with 19 licensed VASPs, which include Coins.ph, PDAX, and Bloom.

Still, in a cybercrime education session with the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) – Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC), Binance Philippines’ General Manager Kenneth Stern said they were not affected because they would be acquiring a firm with a crypto exchange license already.