Just days after the surprise meeting between VanEck CEO Jan van Eck and Binance founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) at the TOKEN2049 conference in Dubai, VanEck filed for the first spot BNB ETF in the United States.
This move surprised the cryptocurrency community, especially considering Binance's recent legal troubles. CZ resigned as CEO, spent four months in prison, and Binance has paid over $4 billion to settle allegations with U.S. regulators. Now, as the dust begins to settle, is CZ quietly shaping Binance's comeback?
According to Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas, this moment may not be a coincidence. He points out that CZ has recently stated that he is advising several governments on building cryptocurrency reserves — and BNB could be part of those reserves. Balchunas added, "It's just a theory, but it's a pretty reasonable theory," suggesting that this may have influenced VanEck's decision.
VanEck filed an S-1 for the BNB ETF on May 5, 2025, just four months after Donald Trump won his second presidential term. The ETF will provide U.S. institutions with managed exposure to BNB. However, the filing does not include staking, a feature still missing in U.S. spot Ethereum ETFs and could limit investor demand.
BNB, Binance's native coin, has lagged behind Ethereum, Solana, and Polygon in more recent topics like tokenization and NFTs. However, the ETF filing has served BNB well, reversing the recent downtrend and outperforming Bitcoin and Ethereum over a 24-hour period.
Although ETFs may take months or even years to be approved, if successful, this would be a significant milestone for BNB. However, regulatory uncertainty remains the biggest barrier. The SEC previously labeled BNB as an unregistered security, a complaint that was later withdrawn but never formally resolved.
Although there is no confirmed link between CZ and the ETF filing, the timing and context suggest that his influence remains significant. Whether intentional or not, VanEck's move could mark an important moment for BNB — if regulators allow it.