CZ Leaps Onto the Abu Dhabi Stage: Web3, AI, and Camel-Chasing Regulation?! 🐫

Well now, here we are again—this time in Abu Dhabi, where Changpeng Zhao, or CZ as the telegram crowd likes to call him, is stepping into the glare of the footlights. Seems the fella can’t keep out of the spotlight for long, the same way a cat can’t stay indoors when there’s mischief to be made on the roof. On May 6, he chirped across social media that he’d packed his bags and set a course for the Governance of Emerging Technologies Summit, ready to educate, elucidate, and perhaps bamboozle us gentlefolk on Web3, regulation, and why the digital economy is growing faster than a weed in Mississippi mud.

CZ’s slot is at 9:55 AM in Gulf time (though I’m certain he’ll still be shaking sand out his shoes from the night before), right in the heart of a session delightfully titled, “Web3, Regulation and the New Digital Economy: A Blueprint for Responsible Innovation.” Or as I like to call it, “Don’t Worry, Ma, the Internet’s Got Rules Now!”

Speaking in person at this conference in a few minutes. Pushing adoption!
— CZ 🔶 BNB (@cz_binance) May 6, 2025

You’ll find CZ wearing two hats—one for Binance, the other for his educational sidekick, Giggle Academy (because nothing says “I take regulation seriously” like giggling your way through the rules). He’ll expound on how blockchain might grow up someday if it gets the right kind of regulatory spinach in its diet.

The whole shindig’s taking place at the illustrious St. Regis Saadiyat, right there in Abu Dhabi sand, and goes from May 5 to 6. It’s hosted by the Advanced Technology Research Council and has the blessing of His Highness Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan—because let’s face it, in this neck of the woods, you don’t order a cup of coffee without a Royal thumbs up.

The big theme this year: wrangling wild new tech like AI, blockchain, and digital platforms—because, folks, if you don’t govern ‘em, they tend to run off like cattle at the first crack of thunder. CZ’s been waving his lasso in this space longer than most, so it’s fitting he’s here to tell us how not to get trampled.

The morning started the way most mornings at fancy hotels do: registratin’ at 8:30 sharp, followed by some welcoming words from Maitha Sabah. Then at 9:40, in swaggered H.E. Omar Sultan Al Olama, the UAE’s tech honcho, to tell everyone how if you want to stay ahead of the herd in AI, you’d best have your boots on and your brain in gear.

Right after that, CZ climbs onto the soapbox. He’ll be rubbing elbows with a roll call of notables, including Rebecca McLaughlin-Eastham—the anchorwoman with a name so long you could lasso a camel with it—who’s helping wrangle the discourse all summit long.

CZ showing up, after he’s eased off from steering the Binance ship daily, tells you the region means business when it comes to leading the charge in crypto and emerging tech. With all these captains of industry—public, private, possibly pirate—packed into one tent, the message is clear as a bell: technology needs some rules, but let’s make sure they’re the kind of rules you can actually follow without tripping over ‘em. 🏜️💸

2025-05-06 09:31

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