Key notes
- Changpeng Zhao will serve as the official cryptocurrency advisor to the governments of Kyrgyzstan and Pakistan from 2025.
- The term “hard money” historically referred to commodity-backed rare currencies, such as gold, and now includes Bitcoin.
- Both Kyrgyzstan and Pakistan have launched major cryptocurrency initiatives in recent months, including a national stablecoin and a bitcoin reserve.
Former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao reported on November 9 that two senior government officials from two different unnamed countries referred to the cryptocurrency as “hard money” during his advisory discussions last week. He described this as a sign that “realization is finally happening” regarding the economic role of cryptocurrencies on the global stage.
In my role as an advisor to governments, last week, two senior officials from two different countries referred to cryptocurrencies as “hard money.” Realization finally happens.
— Czechoslovakia
BNB (@cz_binance) November 9, 2025
What “hard money” means and why it’s important
The term “hard money” carries a specific economic significance. according to InvestopediaIt describes currency made from or backed by valuable commodities such as gold or silver. These assets are expected to maintain a stable market value and resist inflation.
Bitcoin
Bitcoin
$101749
24-hour fluctuations:
0.7%
Market value:
2.03 T
Vol. 24 hours:
$46.63 billion
Together, gold makes up roughly 14% of the global money supply as of 2025. Hunter Horsley, CEO of Bitwise, described Bitcoin as the world’s rarest store of value, with an annual increase in supply of just 0.84% compared to 1.5-2% for gold. CZ recently highlighted this advantage when discussing the challenges of gold verification compared to blockchain transparency.
Czechoslovakia’s advisory roles in Kyrgyzstan and Pakistan
Pakistan appointed Zhao to the Cryptocurrency Council in April 2024. The country has an estimated 15 to 20 million cryptocurrency users, representing about 8% of the population. Zhao was appointed advisor to Kyrgyz President Sadr Japarov in May 2025, focusing on digital assets and blockchain integration.
The two appointments came after Zhao was released from a four-month US prison sentence in September 2024 on charges of money laundering violations. The Binance founder was pardoned by Trump in October just weeks before he made his statement about “hard money.”
Kyrgyzstan launched its national stablecoin, KGST, in October 2025 and created a cryptocurrency reserve, which includes BNB. Pakistan declared a strategic reserve for bitcoin in May 2025 and began licensing exchanges through the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority in September.
A growing wave of government adoption of cryptocurrencies
The United States leads government cryptocurrency holdings with $34.2 billion in digital assets, ranking eighth among global cryptocurrency whales according to Arkham Intelligence. The US Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, created under an executive order Trump issued creating the reserve in March, recently expanded to 326,588 Bitcoin after authorities seized $14 billion in Bitcoin from Chen Qi, a Chinese national linked to a pig slaughter scam.
The UK government ranks 43rd with holdings of $6.36 billion. El Salvador has $652 million worth of Bitcoin as legal tender, and is maintaining continued purchases despite international pressure throughout 2025.
Galaxy Research predicts that at least five nation-states will add Bitcoin to reserves by the end of the year. Government officials’ adoption of “hard money” terminology represents a shift from viewing cryptocurrencies as speculative to recognizing them as sound money. Analysts predict that this institutional recognition could push Bitcoin price forecasts to $200,000 by late 2025.
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As a Web3 marketing strategist and former DuckDAO CMO, Zoran Spirkovski translates complex coding concepts into compelling narratives that drive growth. With a background in cryptocurrency journalism, he excels at developing go-to-market strategies for DeFi, L2, and GameFi projects.
The post CZ Reports Government Shift: Crypto Now Called ‘Hard Money’ by Officials first appeared on Investorempires.com.
