Changpeng “CZ” Zhao showed up in person at Consensus Miami on May 7. The session was originally listed as virtual. He walked on stage instead. His message: Binance wants to restore U.S. users’ access to global crypto liquidity, and reviving Binance.US is one way to do it.
“The best liquidity in crypto is outside of the U.S.,” CZ said. “Crypto is one of the very few markets that U.S. don’t have access to the best prices.” He compared it to Amazon offering the best prices in retail. In crypto, Americans get worse deals than traders in Dubai, Singapore, or Seoul. He called it strange and fixable.
Two paths: revive Binance.US or bring the global exchange directly
CZ named two options. First: revive Binance.US as a fuller product. The platform has been running on limited functionality since the DOJ settlement in 2023. CEO Stephen Gregory has been quietly planning an expansion beyond spot trading into derivatives and prediction markets. That would make Binance.US competitive with Coinbase and Kraken on product breadth.
Second: merge Binance.US into Binance’s global operations or allow the main exchange to serve U.S. users directly. This is the bolder play. It would give American traders access to deeper order books, more trading pairs, and lower fees. It would also require regulatory clearance that did not exist two years ago.
CZ did not commit to either path. He framed both as possibilities now that U.S. policy has shifted. But the fact that he said it out loud, on stage, in Miami, signals that internal planning is further along than “just floating an idea.”
“I didn’t expect the U.S. to become so crypto-friendly so quickly”
CZ spent the last few years staying away from the U.S. “Out of sight, out of mind,” he said. He pleaded guilty to violating Bank Secrecy Act requirements in 2023 and served a four-month sentence. Trump pardoned him in late 2025. Since then, CZ has been rebuilding his public profile through book tours, Dubai events, and now a surprise Consensus appearance.
He acknowledged the shift directly: “Obviously, the U.S. policy towards crypto changed in the last year and a half or so. So now I have to actually make up for the absence.” He pointed to Silicon Valley’s talent pool, Wall Street’s capital base, and the returning wave of crypto entrepreneurs who had left the country during the enforcement era.
Three days earlier, at a Dubai event, CZ called the UAE “the most crypto-friendly place on the planet” and suggested every crypto business should consider relocating there. The Consensus comments tell a different story. The U.S. is back in play, and CZ wants a seat at the table.
BNB Chain as the AI payments rail
CZ also pitched BNB Chain as the optimal payment rail for transactions between AI agents. The argument: as autonomous agents start making purchases, paying for compute, and settling micro-transactions on behalf of users, they need a blockchain that is fast, cheap, and programmable. CZ positioned BNB Chain for that role, noting that BNB is “underexposed” in the U.S. market compared to its global footprint.
The timing overlaps with Amazon’s announcement this week that it is building stablecoin payment infrastructure for AI agents through Coinbase and Stripe. Multiple platforms are racing to become the default settlement layer for machine-to-machine payments. CZ wants BNB in that race.
The competition has not been standing still
While Binance.US operated at reduced capacity, the U.S. exchange market restructured. Coinbase acquired Deribit for $2.9 billion. Kraken’s parent Payward spent $2.65 billion on three acquisitions in 18 months. Morgan Stanley launched crypto trading on E*Trade this week at 50 basis points, undercutting Coinbase on fees. The CLARITY Act is moving toward a July 4 signing target.
CZ is walking into a market that reorganized without him. Whether Binance can reclaim a meaningful share of U.S. volume depends on how fast it can ship product and how far regulators are willing to let it go. The pardon cleared the personal obstacle. The business obstacle is still open.
