ASEAN Crypto Passporting: CZ Backs It, But Two Licenses Still Needed

No ASEAN regulator or bloc-wide body has floated a formal passporting proposal, a consultation process, or a target date. Zhao’s remarks are an endorsement, not a policy in motion. The region does have one precedent: the ASEAN Capital Markets Forum’s Collective Investment Schemes framework, which lets a fund authorized in one member state seek streamlined approval in another. Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand launched it in 2014. The Philippines didn’t join until 2021 – seven years to add one more country.

The closer comparison sits outside the region. The EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation grants an authorized crypto-asset service provider passporting rights across member states once it notifies its home regulator, according to reporting on the rule. Binance’s own record under that system is telling: the exchange reportedly missed the MiCA compliance deadline, suggesting passporting regimes don’t spare a company from failing to meet them.

BlockShoals’ experience illustrates the internal friction that passporting alone may not solve. An SEC sandbox clearance didn’t substitute for the BSP’s separate sign-off, even on Binance’s own infrastructure. A regional passport that speeds up cross-border market entry doesn’t automatically collapse sector-specific licensing splits within a single country.

ASEAN’s Digital Economy Framework Agreement is the nearest vehicle for this proposal. Negotiations concluded in late May 2026, and the pact is targeted for signing at the 49th ASEAN Summit in November 2026. No published text confirms crypto passporting is part of it. Zhao’s Manila remarks are an opening position, one that lines up with Binance’s own interests as much as with the region’s.