The biggest anticipation of this Binance Blockchain Week finally came. Binance founder Zhao Changpeng (CZ), who just finished four months of prison life, appeared at the main venue and discussed topics about life in prison, Binance, educational projects, and AI. This is also CZ’s first public appearance since his release.
After a $4.3 billion fine and four months of American prison life, CZ, who paid a great price for freedom, appears relatively chill, with more defined arm lines than before. On this last day of Uptober, it’s quite nice to hear CZ's voice again after about a year, especially on the road to Bitcoin's historic high of $70,000.
The following is the full text of the speech:
Austin: I am Austin from Altcoin Daily. CZ, this is your first interview since you came out. How was your experience in prison? It must not have been very good, right?
CZ: It is indeed not as interesting as it is now. The entire experience is very limited, freedom is deprived, and there isn’t much to do, but it also gave me a lot of time to reflect. I learned many important lessons, such as what do you miss the most when everything is taken away from you? For me, what I miss the most is actually the connection between people. I miss my children, family, friends, colleagues, and community. I also miss other things, but they are not as strong as the longing for people. You might miss food and a comfortable bed, but those things do not impact me much. This experience has helped me refocus my priorities in life.
Austin: Do you think this is a fair judgment?
CZ: This is a very subjective question; different people will have different views. There is a plea agreement here, and I agreed to some of the terms of the agreement and do not intend to make negative comments about it. I accept this outcome.
As for sentencing, I received four months of imprisonment. The judge's job is difficult; different positions will have different opinions. Some may think it’s too light, and others may think it’s too heavy. For the crime I committed—namely violating the Bank Secrecy Act—no one in US history has been sentenced for a single violation, and I am the first.
Just weeks ago, a bank was fined $1.8 billion for similar issues, yet no one was prosecuted. Whether that’s fair is less important to me now; the judge also mentioned many of my merits in court. Although I was sentenced, my prison term is indeed short compared to others. Most people in prison have sentences of five years, ten years, or even longer. So from this perspective, I consider myself lucky; the judgment is behind me, and I am looking forward.
Austin: Did you make friends while you were inside?
CZ: Yes, you have to make friends; it can be very hard to live in isolation. There were indeed a few guards who recognized me and even asked what coins they should buy. I could only tell them that I had no internet access inside and no information about cryptocurrencies.
I made some friends and still keep in touch with them. Honestly, there are many good people in prison; many of them received long sentences for very minor offenses. Most of the peers I encountered were friendly, although a few guards were slightly indifferent, but I did not suffer any physical harm. From this perspective, I consider myself very lucky.
Before going to prison, prison consultants (this is an industry) gave me a lot of advice. They warned me not to keep too much money in my account, only fifty dollars. When I went in, I found others had two hundred dollars in their accounts, making me appear like the 'poor one.' Overall, I didn’t encounter many problems and made some friends; I'm now also trying to help them reduce their sentences through legal means.
Additionally, there is a friend in prison named Michael, who was incarcerated for a marijuana possession case from forty years ago and has served 27 years, whereas marijuana is now legal. He earned a college degree during his time in prison and read six books. There are indeed some very talented individuals there, but it's hard to realize this in such a challenging environment. Every time I could use a computer for 15 minutes, I would be automatically logged off after 15 minutes, and the computer didn’t allow pasting, only manual input. So in that situation, if you wanted to adjust a piece of text, you had to rewrite it. And in Michael's time, there weren’t even computers. So, although the conditions were tough, many people still worked hard to study, read, and earn degrees; there are many good people there.
The relationship with Binance and the judgment of industry trends
Austin: What is your current relationship with Binance?
CZ: I have resigned as CEO and am no longer involved in the company's daily operations. My shareholder rights have not been affected, so I am still a major shareholder of Binance. I can still request some information but cannot make decisions or give orders. Overall, the relationship is still quite good; there is now a group of others working hard, while I have been 'forced into retirement.' The first month was a bit difficult emotionally because I had invested a lot of effort into this company over the past seven years.
But I have always believed that a CEO's term should not exceed ten years because the world is constantly changing. Now that we have AI, I didn’t spend much time understanding it before, nor did I have the time to delve deep into DeFi and other details. So looking back now, being forced to step down actually has many benefits. If I had resigned voluntarily, people might think I couldn't handle it, but now it’s forced, so no one is complaining.
In addition, I now have more time, and I feel lucky. Although my reputation has changed, I still value my past achievements, which indicate there was no fraud and no user lost funds. So in some ways, my reputation remains solid. Furthermore, I am not young anymore, but I am not too old either, and I still have the energy to do more. To have this kind of freedom and resources to do what I want is indeed very fortunate.
Austin: I heard you are banned for life from managing any cryptocurrency exchanges. Is that true? Will you continue to invest in crypto projects?
CZ: Of course, first of all, according to my understanding, the words 'lifetime' and 'ban' did not appear in my agreement with the government. The agreement states that I resign as CEO and does not have a time limit. However, the agreement can be updated, and the government can change. But I don’t plan to return to the role of CEO; I think the team is doing well without me, and even if given the opportunity, I wouldn’t want to go back. I believe that the phrase 'lifetime ban' is just media exaggeration; the actual agreement is public.
As for the second question, I will certainly continue to invest in crypto projects. Right now, I am mainly doing two things: one is Giggle Academy, and the other is investing. My investment focus is on blockchain, artificial intelligence, and biotechnology. I no longer want to lead projects personally; I prefer to help other entrepreneurs develop their companies by providing them with funding, advice, resources, and other support. I have some very important mentors, and I also hope to become a mentor for others.
Austin: Regarding the outlook for cryptocurrency in 2025, do you still have a positive view for the coming year?
CZ: I will try not to give any financial advice, but history does not predict the future. I cannot predict the future, but I can analyze history. Historically, Bitcoin has gone through very clear four-year cycles. 2013 was a bull market, 2017 was a bull market, and actually, 2012 was a recovery year, which many people do not trace back that far. 2016 was a recovery year, and 2017 soared. 2020 was a recovery year, and 2021 was a bull market. This year has returned to the previous high points.
So based on the existing analysis, 2024 is a recovery year. As for what will happen next year, I am not sure, but in the long term, I remain very optimistic about the entire industry. I believe there is still much to be built, and as more people use cryptocurrencies, its utility value will also increase. In the long run, I am still very optimistic.
Austin: What aspects of cryptocurrency do you see the most potential in? DeFi or meme coins?
CZ: I don't plan to specify a certain area because it's very difficult to predict which will become the next hot spot. For example, at the beginning of 2017, I might not have predicted that ICOs would become a hot topic, but by June, the trend was very clear. So it depends on which projects burst into certain niche areas. This morning, I met some entrepreneurs who are combining AI with blockchain to come up with some very interesting ideas. If one of those projects explodes, then that area will grow. It is hard to predict, but I will continue to support other builders in the industry and see what happens.
Views on regulation
Austin: Regarding legislation, what do you think about the future direction of cryptocurrency regulation?
CZ: Current legislation is gradually improving; in some countries, like here, progress is rapid. In some major countries, due to the many departments and personnel, progress is slower. But overall, the trend is positive. Let me give you an example: in mid-April of this year, Elizabeth Warren announced a crackdown on cryptocurrencies, just a week before my sentencing. By June, Trump publicly supported cryptocurrencies, and by the end of June, both parties supported cryptocurrencies while I was still in prison. So this also demonstrates that when people need cryptocurrencies, the government will respond. Therefore, I believe the overall direction is positive.
Austin: I live in the US. From my perspective, cryptocurrency has become an important election issue. Who do you think is friendlier to cryptocurrency, Harris or Trump?
CZ: Oh, I have no thoughts on that at all. I won't comment on any election topics because I've dealt with US law enough. I know there are election interference laws in the US, and anything I say publicly could be taken out of context, so I don't intend to touch on that topic, not even to approach that 'line.' I just want to keep my distance. I think it's great that both parties support cryptocurrency.
Austin: Okay, from the perspective of the US, which policy or legislation do you think is the most important?
CZ: I think the most fundamental point is the classification of cryptocurrencies. There is much controversy now; for example, in most other countries, they regard cryptocurrencies as currency. Bitcoin has already been recognized as a form of currency, and many other countries also regard it as cryptocurrency. Of course, there are different types of cryptocurrencies depending on the specific coin. But in the US, this is indeed a major point of contention, and I don’t want to comment too much on it.
About Giggle Academy
Austin: Assuming that a year from now, we meet on the stage of the 2025 Binance Blockchain Week, not necessarily about prices, where do you think Bitcoin or cryptocurrency will stand?
CZ: It is indeed very difficult to predict things a year in advance, but I believe history may repeat itself, and our future will be in a relatively good position.
Austin: I really like this prediction, CZ. What are your plans next?
CZ: I now spend at least half my time on the Giggle Academy project. I find this project very interesting and impactful, even though it won't be a profit-driven project.
Austin: Can you explain to those unfamiliar what Giggle Academy is?
CZ: It is a digital education platform specifically designed to serve those who cannot access educational opportunities. Currently, there are about 700 to 800 million adults worldwide who are illiterate, two-thirds of whom are women. Additionally, according to various reports, there are about 300 to 500 million children who have no access to schooling. In other words, approximately 1.2 to 1.3 billion people worldwide lack access to education, mainly concentrated in very poor areas.
Many educational applications and projects are carried out in areas rich in educational resources, serving as supplements to the existing educational system. I believe we now have sufficient technological capability, combining game developers, graphic designers, teachers, and AI to create applications or tools that can serve those in need of education without relying on teachers.
In those places, the cost of teachers is high, and there is a shortage of them. If teachers are to be sent there, it takes a long time. But now we can provide education digitally through a very interactive application, mainly on the Android platform, as Android devices are cheaper in those areas.
If we can help 100 million people gain education, I think that would be very meaningful to me; I don't care about financial returns, and I don't think it requires too much funding.
Today, among the global population of 8 billion, about 1 billion people study in schools daily, with an average class size of 30 or 50, and there are about 20 million teachers worldwide. But think about how many different ways there are to teach first-grade English? We repeat similar teaching processes millions of times a day. If we could turn this content into applications, along with AI support to interactively answer questions. Although the initial investment may be high, requiring millions of dollars, once the AI engine is completed, the cost for each course may be around one million dollars. Twelve grades, twelve courses, thirty subjects, totaling about 300 million dollars. Even with a large buffer, it would just be 1 billion dollars. I believe we can create content that meets all educational needs today and covers 500 languages.
The US government spends 100 billion dollars on education annually, and we only need less than 2% of that funding to provide education for children who lack educational opportunities. We can even do better than traditional face-to-face education. In a classroom of 30 people, the teaching pace is limited by the slowest student; whereas through a platform, we can dynamically adjust the curriculum, allowing students to advance quickly in their strengths. After accumulating a lot of data, we can also help students find jobs quickly. For example, an 8-year-old child can do labeling work, which is also a good source of income.
My nephew managed a flight simulation community with 14,000 gamers from the age of 12. Kids aged 16 can do customer support, like answering frequently asked questions, and 15-16 year-olds can be game testers or coders. So I want to get kids into the workforce earlier, not just to get a college or high school diploma.
We can help employers find the right talent. For example, this child excels in mathematics, ranking in the top 10%, and has completed many projects; other kids have high emotional intelligence and volunteer to tutor younger children through the platform, etc. This way, we can help children find work early, thereby helping their families, siblings, and other family members gain more educational opportunities.
Of course, electronic digital education lacks interpersonal interaction, but it also has its advantages. My vision is for older children to tutor and interact with younger children to compensate for the lack of interpersonal interaction. For example, in physical education classes, online teaching is challenging, but the platform can organize 15-year-olds to lead activities with 7-year-olds, and the 15-year-olds can earn points or credits for this. When employers come to hire, such children will naturally be prioritized.
We can design many different interactive ways on the platform, but the most pressing issue we need to resolve is enabling AI to consistently generate coherent video content. This task seems simple but is a challenge for AI. Currently, teachers can quickly create content, such as PPTs, but this content is usually tailored for their own classes.
However, in an environment without teachers, we need the platform or application to convey this content on its own. In this case, to capture the attention of children, we need very interactive videos, animations, and cute elements that teachers typically cannot provide, and this is where AI can play a role. Currently, no AI model can generate ideal content. I have discussed this with many top AI experts, and we are working hard to solve this problem. However, this issue should be resolved in the coming months to years. Once we break through this challenge, we can convey content digitally, hoping to benefit hundreds of millions or even billions of children and people worldwide, providing them with free education.
Austin: In the future, will certain parts of Giggle Academy integrate with Web3 or blockchain? I think everyone here wants to know if there will be airdrop events to participate in?
CZ: In the short term, no, I don’t want to be involved in issuing new tokens or anything like that. So we may support existing tokens like Bitcoin, Ethereum, BNB, etc.
We will build a reward mechanism to ensure the system runs well, but we may not need to issue our own tokens. For example, if I want to hire customer support or community forum administrators, I can sponsor some BNB to pay those kids, etc.
Additionally, today I discovered another interesting thing. AI companies are actually paying substantial amounts of money to acquire user-generated data on the platform. If we get the kids and parents to agree to provide their data to AI companies for training, then the data generated by those children while learning pronunciation, math, etc., can be used to train AI, and parents might receive between 10 to 100 dollars in compensation. That is a considerable amount for our target users. This way, we can achieve a direct payment model of 'earn while learning' without the need for tokens. AI companies would become sponsors of the platform, so we don’t necessarily need to issue tokens to realize this model.
Of course, in the long term, I hope to gradually integrate the economic model of Web3 into the platform. This is a platform that accompanies children from the time they learn to speak until they find employment. Even when they are 70 or 80 years old, they can still continue learning. By then, when they find a job, we can propose (rather than force) that they consider donating a certain percentage of their income back to the platform over the next one to three years. Even if only a small portion of people are willing to do this, I believe we can build a sustainable platform in the long term. However, this is a long-term plan and may take about ten years. But that’s okay; I have time.
