On His First-ever Visit to Georgia, Binance’s CZ Meets With Prime Minister and Praises the Nation as an Advanced FinTech Hub

On November 30, Changpeng Zhao (CZ), the founder and CEO of Binance – the world's leading blockchain infrastructure provider – visited Georgia to meet with Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili and interface with the country’s business and crypto communities.

Garibashvili and Zhao discussed the favorability of Georgia’s business environment and the significant opportunities that the country offers to investors. The meeting highlighted Georgia’s positioning as a hub for advanced financial technologies, bolstered by its strategic location and innovation-driven government. Garibashvili emphasized his administration’s resolve  to greatly support foreign direct investment, adding that the country's legal system was prepared to regulate digital assets. In a tweet, CZ said that he and Garibashvili  had a great discussion about the Web3 economy and Georgia. Levan Davitashvili, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia, Lasha Khutsishvili, Minister of Finance of Georgia, and Papuna Lezhava, Deputy Governor of the National Bank of Georgia (NBG) also participated in the discussion. 

CZ said at the press conference: “We discussed all kinds of support, from recruiting programs to educational efforts to investments. The meeting was very positive. After this meeting, our confidence in Georgia increased significantly, and this will empower us to invest in the country more heavily.” 

Another highlight of CZ’s visit to Georgia was his meeting with the CEO of TBC Bank, Vakhtang Butskhrikidze. The executives discussed the areas of cooperation between TBC and Binance as envisaged in the Memorandum of Understanding signed earlier in November.

This partnership connects Binance, a blockchain infrastructure provider, and TBC – a leading financial institution and top technology company in the region. This collaboration will greatly contribute to the development of the virtual asset markets and the larger digital ecosystem in Georgia and the region.

CEO of TBC, Vakhtang Butskhrikidze, commented: “By announcing our partnership today, Binance and TBC have come together to make peoples’ lives easier by enabling them to buy/sell cryptocurrency on the Binance platform using TBC Bank’s acquiring services. I believe Binance to be a responsible global player that understands the risks specific to the industry and acts in full compliance with AML/CTF procedures and international sanctions protocols. It is our intention to create additional value for our users through financial literacy and awareness-raising campaigns. We look forward to our future cooperation, which will greatly benefit the development of the regional virtual asset markets and our customers in the years to come”.

Later on the same day, Binance hosted its second Community Meetup in Tbilisi, with more than 300 people in attendance. CZ, the event’s headliner, was happy to answer questions from the community, chat with attendees, and take photos with them.

CZ commented after the event: “Now when I come to Tbilisi, I question myself why I haven’t been to Georgia before! We will have an office in Georgia for sure. There are already two people working in the local Binance team, and it looks like our Georgian office will grow very quickly. For example, a year ago, we went to Dubai, and at that time, we also had two people in the local team. Now we have 600 people in Dubai. We hope for a similar pace of work in Georgia as well.”