From Prison to Praise: Binance Founder CZ Walks Free in Dubai, Unveils Ambitious New Venture to Revolutionize Crypto Education

Changpeng Zhao, also known as “CZ”, the founder and former CEO of the cryptocurrency exchange Binance, returned to the cryptocurrency industry after being released from prison in the United States, and the standing room was closed. It was greeted with a huge crowd and applause.

Participants at Binance Blockchain Week stood huddled together to watch Zhao’s first public appearance since his release from prison last month. Zhao served four months in prison after pleading guilty to violating the Bank Secrecy Act while running Binance.

Zhao appeared on stage on October 31, the second day of the two-day conference in Dubai. The main stage area began to fill up about an hour before the scheduled performance, and there were no seats left 30 minutes before the performance. When he was announced, attendees cheered and pulled out their cellphones to take pictures of him taking the stage.

talk about prison experiences

The session’s moderator, Altcoin Daily founder Austin Arnold, began the conversation by asking Zhao about his experience in prison.

“My first question is, how was your summer?” he asked, eliciting laughter from the audience.

Mr. Zhao initially smiled, but turned serious when he began talking about the charges to which he had pleaded guilty, including violating the Bank Secrecy Act, and said his plea agreement meant he couldn’t say anything bad about the deal.

“(Prison) is not good,” he commented, “and it’s less fun than it is now (Binance event). I think the overall experience is very limited in many aspects, so… Right? With your freedom taken away and nothing to do, it gives you a lot of time to reflect on your past.”

He said he missed his family, friends and colleagues while in prison, and said he has no immediate plans to run another crypto exchange.

Zhao referenced the sentencing process itself several times, noting that it was a difficult job for the judge, but that he was also the first person to go to prison for violating the Bank Secrecy Act. This is in contrast to TD Bank’s recent settlement with U.S. prosecutors, in which individuals did not plead guilty to similar charges.

Also, while he was in prison, former Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris, current vice president, began talking about crypto assets in their campaign campaigns. I also touched on that.

“I was sitting in jail like, ‘What the hell happened?’ What would have happened if I had waited two months?”

Engage in education platform

Asked about the future, Zhao said he spends at least half of his time working on an education platform called Giggle Academy, which he originally announced last year.

He told the audience that the project aims to provide digital education services to people who currently do not have access to educational resources.

“Today, between 700 and 800 million adults are illiterate, two-thirds of whom are women. In addition, depending on which report you read, between 300 and 500 million children are illiterate,” Zhao said. are not attending school.” “If you look at educational apps and educational projects, they are all…positioned to complement the existing education system,” he said.

Alongside Giggle Academy, Zhao said he is focusing on investments including artificial intelligence (AI), biotechnology, and other blockchain projects.

blockchain week

Zhao’s successor, current Binance CEO Richard Teng, toured the exhibition hall on the first day of the conference and took photos with attendees before and after his opening remarks.

[Binance CEO Richard Teng]

In his opening remarks on the 30th, Teng said the theme for the next year is “momentum” in the crypto industry, citing the approval of a physical Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the United States as an example of the industry moving forward. I mentioned it.

Approximately 4,000 people attended the event, and more than 1 million people streamed the panel online, according to a Binance spokesperson.

｜Translation and editing: Rinan Hayashi
｜Image: Nik De/CoinDesk
｜Original text:Freed From Prison, Binance Founder CZ Gets Ovation in Dubai and Talks New Educational Venture