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Changpeng Zhao, the founder of Binance, stated at the Bitcoin Asia 2026 conference in Hong Kong that the UAE offers the most progressive regulatory approach for crypto, a view he tied directly to the breadth of the license issued by the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of the Abu Dhabi Global Market. The approval, which Binance received in December 2025, allows the global platform to operate spot and derivatives trading along with clearing, custody and over-the-counter services from Abu Dhabi. According to reports from CoinDesk, the structure divides the business across three locally incorporated entities to enable full supervision while aligning with traditional financial market standards.
The Financial Services Regulatory Authority approved Nest Exchange Limited as a recognised investment exchange to run a multilateral trading facility for on-exchange activities, a CoinDesk summary of the December 2025 announcement showed. Nest Clearing and Custody Limited gained recognition as a clearing house with added permissions for settlement and digital asset safeguarding. Nest Trading Limited received broker-dealer authorisation to handle off-exchange deals, asset management and money services, with Binance.com scheduled to commence the regulated operations on January 5, 2026.
A Cryptonomist sector overview placed the ADGM license in the context of the emirate’s virtual asset framework introduced in 2018, one of the earliest comprehensive regimes worldwide. The National reported that the centre now hosts more than 20 firms holding active virtual asset licences, reflecting sustained growth in licensed crypto activity. Binance’s June 2026 trading volume reached $4.74 trillion, accounting for 39.5 percent of the total recorded across 11 major exchanges tracked by CoinMarketCap data cited in the same overview.
The National noted that Binance co-CEO Richard Teng described the ADGM authorisation as an important milestone that provides regulatory clarity for the exchange’s global user base exceeding 300 million registered accounts. Separate approvals have since expanded Abu Dhabi’s role in tokenised assets, with Coinbase securing permission in August 2026 to arrange deals and provide custody for securities backed by underlying shares, according to Crypto News. Kearney projections referenced in regional coverage estimate that tokenised assets in the GCC could approach $500 billion by 2030.
Abu Dhabi’s progress sits alongside parallel frameworks in the UAE, including Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority and federal rules updated through 2025 that brought additional virtual asset service providers into scope, a BOSS Publishing regulatory timeline indicated. The Central Bank of the UAE and the newly constituted Capital Market Authority maintain distinct oversight roles for payment tokens, stablecoins and capital market activities. Industry assessments credit the multi-regulator model with contributing to the UAE’s rising share of global crypto volumes while enforcing standards on custody, anti-money laundering and consumer protection.
Zhao ranked other jurisdictions in his conference remarks, positioning the United States for its focus on stablecoins and Commodity Futures Trading Commission efficiency, while noting faster regulatory evolution in Hong Kong, Pakistan and Kazakhstan, according to a Cryptonews summary of the event. Singapore received mention as an example of a more cautious pathway. The founder linked his assessment of the UAE explicitly to the scope of the ADGM license that effectively green-lit almost all core Binance product lines under a single supervisory umbrella.
