整理：Joy, PANews

At 4 PM local time in Dubai on October 31, CZ, who had not been seen for a long time, took the stage at the Binance Blockchain Week 2024. He had previously hinted on Twitter that he would attend the event in a personal capacity, but unexpectedly ended up having a public live dialogue.

He talked about his life in prison for four months, stating that he did not suffer any physical harm, and most of his fellow inmates were friendly. Some prison guards even asked him for cryptocurrency recommendations. Although the host repeatedly brought up the topic of U.S. regulation, CZ did not want to engage with that "ball," but he believes that regulation is generally moving in a positive direction. He also denied media reports that he had been permanently banned from managing cryptocurrency exchanges, although he stated that even if given the opportunity, he would not return to a leadership position at Binance, where he remains the largest shareholder. Regarding the future, he plans to spend a lot of time on the educational project Giggle Academy and investments, and there are currently no plans to issue tokens for this project in the short term.

Below is the full dialogue organized by PANews:

Host: It's great to see you. The first question: How was your summer vacation?

CZ: There was much less work to do. (Laughter from the audience)

Host: Welcome back. What was your experience like in prison?

CZ: (Laughter from the audience) It wasn't a good experience; it wasn't as fun as it is now. But I think the whole experience just greatly limited many ways. Your freedom is taken away, and you have nothing to do. But it gives you a lot of time to reflect. I actually learned a lot of very important lessons, for example, when everything is taken away from you, what do you miss the most? I found that what I missed the most were my relationships. I missed my children, my family, my friends, my colleagues, and my community. I also missed many other things, but compared to my longing for people, it wasn't at the highest level. You miss food, a comfortable bed. But they didn't bother me. So I think this helped me realign my priorities in life.

Host: Do you think it was a fair judgment?

CZ: That's a very subjective question. Everyone has their own opinion. I agreed to the plea deal; I am part of the Binance plea deal, and I can't say there's anything wrong with the plea deal. It seems like a trade-off; it was settled, I endured all of this, and I was sentenced to four months in prison. In terms of sentencing, the judge's job is really difficult. I don't think it's about fairness, but I can give you some data for people to consider. For my violation, we did not implement an appropriate anti-money laundering program. For this specific violation, I am the first person in U.S. history to go to prison for such a violation. So I am the only one who has been imprisoned for this.

Just two weeks ago, a bank was fined about $1.8 billion. When I read that article, I learned that no one was prosecuted; only the company was fined. But whether it's fair or not doesn't matter. The judge also said many good things about me in court. He said he had never seen so many letters of support. When I went to prison, I found that a four-month sentence was really short compared to everyone else there. Everyone else had sentences of five years, ten years, fifteen years; no one got a few months, so from that perspective, I was lucky. So I think in the judge's mind, this is also a very subjective viewpoint.

I try not to think about it; I think everyone here will have their own opinion. But I just want to look forward. I think that's how it is. Now I can look forward.

Host: I have a personal question: Did you make friends while you were in there?

CZ: Yes, so if you are alone, you will be very lonely. A few prison guards recognized me and asked me, for example, what coins I should buy? I told them I was in there, and I had no information; there was no internet. Honestly, I think some of those people are very nice; some people were sentenced to long terms for very minor things. I had no trouble in there; most inmates were friendly, although some guards were a bit harsh on us, but there were no issues. I was lucky not to suffer any physical harm; I was never extorted.

Before I went to prison, prison consulting (this is an industry) has 2 million people in prison in the U.S., making it one of the countries with the highest number of incarcerated individuals, so this is a growing emerging industry. (Laughter from the audience)

The prison consultant told me that just before I went in, there were news reports saying I would become the richest person. My prison consultant shocked me by saying, "Don't keep too much money in your account; $50 is enough." When I got there, I found that everyone's accounts…

So overall, no problems; I met a few friends, and I still keep in touch. I try to help some of them reduce their sentences through legal means.

I have a friend named Michael, who has been in prison for 27 years for a marijuana case from forty years ago, but now marijuana is legal. He also got a college degree while in prison and wrote six books. Achieving these things in such a difficult environment is hard. I could only access the computer for 15 minutes at a time, and every 15 minutes, I would be kicked offline. There was no cut and paste function on the computer. So anyway, there are many people there buying books, reading, learning, and getting degrees; there are many good people there.

Host: Now the biggest question on everyone's mind is, what is your current relationship with Binance?

CZ: I have stepped down as CEO, and I should not be involved in the company's daily operations. My shareholder rights have not been affected, so I am still a major shareholder of Binance. I believe I can still request information, etc.; I just can't make decisions or give orders. In fact, this relationship is quite good. Considering that there is now a group of other people working very hard, I was forced to retire. So when this first happened, the first month was a bit difficult; it was emotionally hard to let go, after all, I had poured my heart into it for seven years.

But I have always believed that a CEO should not stay in that position for more than ten years. The world is changing. I didn't have much time to look at AI before, and I didn't understand many details of DeFi. Now I have more time to look at all these things. So I think it's good. Looking back, being forced to step down actually has many benefits. If I had resigned voluntarily, others might have been angry, thinking I didn't have the energy anymore, but now I was forced to resign, so no one complains.

I feel lucky for many reasons. I still have some funds to deploy and can do some things. I feel my reputation has changed; I think although this is a serious crime, it also proves that there was no fraud and no users lost money with us. So in some ways, my reputation is still quite good.

Most importantly, I am really lucky now; I have more time, and I am not very young, but I am not very old either. So I still have the energy to do more things. Very few people can be as lucky as I am to do these things.

Host: I read a headline, "Lifetime ban from managing any cryptocurrency exchange." Is this true? Will you still invest in crypto projects?

CZ: The first question is based on what I know; there is no mention of a lifetime ban. Those two words do not exist in my explicit agreement. The agreement with the government states that I stepped down as CEO. I don't think there is any timeline. But you know, everything is changing, and agreements can be updated with new agreements, and even the government can change, but I don't plan to go back. I have finally left that position, and I think the team is doing well, so I have no need to return.

So even today, if I were allowed to go back, I probably wouldn't. So I think the lifetime ban is just a creative news story to make it more sensational, but the agreement is public.

Your second question: Will you still invest in crypto projects? Of course. Right now, I am only doing two things: Giggle Academy and investments. In terms of investments, there are mainly three areas: blockchain, artificial intelligence, and biotechnology. I don't want to lead any projects myself anymore; I think I no longer have the energy to do that. Now I hope to help other entrepreneurs build their companies; I can help them with funding, advice, and guidance. I have a few mentors I value highly, and I want to be one of those for them.

Host: I believe many people here would love to have you as a mentor. Regarding the outlook for cryptocurrency in 2025, do you still have confidence in cryptocurrency for next year?

CZ: I try not to provide financial advice. We cannot predict the future, but I can analyze history. Historically, Bitcoin has gone through very clear four-year cycles: 2012 was a recovery year, 2013 was a bull market, 2016 was a recovery year, 2017 was a bull market, 2020 was a recovery year, and 2021 was a bull market. This year has returned to previous highs.

I don't know what will happen next year, but I believe in the long-term development of the entire industry. I think there is still a lot to be built, and I believe this industry will grow larger, with more and more people using it. Therefore, as more people use cryptocurrency, its practical value will increase. So in the long run, I still have a very positive outlook, but in the short term, it is difficult to predict.

Host: What aspects of cryptocurrency do you find most promising?

CZ: I won't be so specific because it's difficult; it's hard to predict accurately. For example, at the beginning of 2017, I might not have known that ICOs were the next big thing. But by June, that trend was already very clear. By July, we launched a platform, and by December, we became the largest platform. I think it depends on which projects explode in certain niche areas. This morning, I met many entrepreneurs who are integrating AI with blockchain in very interesting ways. If one of those projects takes off, it could propel the industry forward. So it's hard to predict, but I just want to support all the builders in the industry and see what happens.

Host: Let's talk about legislation. How do you view the direction of regulation? I would like to hear your opinion.

CZ: Legislation and regulations are improving; in some countries, like here (Dubai), they are improving rapidly. In other countries, especially larger ones, they tend to act a bit slower; the larger the country, the slower the action, because it requires more departments and more people to discuss. But overall, I think it is actually moving in a very positive direction.

Let me give you another example: In mid-April this year, Elizabeth Warren announced a crackdown on cryptocurrency, which was a week before my sentencing. Then the judge sentenced me, and I went to prison, and by June, both parties were supporting cryptocurrency while I was still sitting in prison. (Laughter from the audience) So this shows that when people want cryptocurrency, the government has to respond. I think it is moving in the right direction.

Host: I live in the U.S., and from my perspective, cryptocurrency has become an important issue in elections. In your view, between Harris and Trump, who do you think is more suitable?

CZ: I don't know, so I won't comment on any election topics because I am already dealing with enough legal matters in the U.S. I know they have election interference laws, so anything I say publicly could be taken out of context, so I don't want to touch it. Right now, I don't even want to get close to that line; I don't even want to see that line, so I just want to stay as far away as possible, so no comments. I think it's great that both sides support cryptocurrency.

Host: When we look at laws and regulations, which policies or legislation do you think are the most important?

CZ: I think the most fundamental one is actually just the classification of cryptocurrency. There is so much debate right now; in most other countries, they just treat this money. Japan recognizes the monetary attributes of Bitcoin. Many other countries view Bitcoin as a cryptocurrency. But of course, different cryptocurrencies have different types. But I think in the U.S., this is indeed a big controversy. I won't comment too much on it.

Host: A year from now, you and I will be attending the 2025 Binance Blockchain Week. Where do you think Bitcoin or cryptocurrency will be positioned?

CZ: It's really hard to predict, but I think there is a great opportunity. History determines the future. We will be in a good position.

Host: What is your next step?

CZ: I am currently spending at least half of my time on Giggle Academy, which I think is a super interesting and impactful project. Although it won't be a very profitable project.

Host: Can you introduce Giggle Academy to someone who has never heard of it?

CZ: It is a digital education platform that serves those who do not have the opportunity to receive education. Today, about 700 million to 800 million adults are not fully literate, two-thirds of whom are women. Most importantly, according to reports, about 300 million to 500 million children are not in school. So together, we have about 1.3 billion people. They do not have the opportunity to receive education, and these are all in very impoverished areas of the world.

Many educational apps and projects operate in resource-rich areas, more as a supplement to the existing education system. And I believe that now we have enough technological capability, combining game developers, graphic designers, teachers, and AI, to create applications or tools that 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 teachers. If we need to send teachers there, it takes a long time. But now we can provide education in a very interactive way through a digital application, mainly on the Android platform, because 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, regardless of economic returns, and I believe it doesn't require too much funding.

Today, out of the 8 billion people globally, about 1 billion are studying in schools every day, with an average class size of 30 or 50 people, 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 every day. If we could turn this content into an application, combined with AI support, allowing it 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 could be around one million dollars. For 12 grades, 12 courses, and 30 subjects, the total would be about 300 million dollars. Even with a large buffer, it would only be 1 billion dollars. I believe we can create content that meets all educational needs today and covers 500 languages.

The U.S. government spends 100 billion dollars on education each year, while we only need less than 2% of that funding to provide education for children without educational opportunities, and we can even do better than traditional face-to-face teaching. In a class of 30, the teaching pace is limited by the slowest student; through a platform, we can dynamically adjust the course content, allowing students to advance quickly in their strengths. After accumulating a large amount 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 has managed a flight simulation community with 14,000 gamers since he was 12 years old. A 16-year-old can do customer support work, such as answering frequently asked questions, and 15 or 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 suitable talent. For example, this child excels in math, ranking in the top 10%, and has completed many projects; other children have high emotional intelligence and volunteer to tutor younger kids through the platform, etc. This way, we can help children find jobs early, thereby helping their families, siblings, and other family members gain more educational opportunities.

Of course, digital education lacks interpersonal interaction, but it also has its advantages. My vision is to have older children mentor and interact with younger children to make up for the lack of interpersonal interaction. For example, in physical education classes, online teaching is hard to implement, 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 recruit, such children will naturally be prioritized.

We can design many different interactive methods on the platform, but the most pressing issue we need to solve right now is to enable AI to consistently generate stable video content. This task seems simple, but it is a challenge for AI. Currently, teachers can quickly create content, such as PPTs, but this content is usually designed for teachers to teach themselves.

However, in an environment without teachers, we need the platform or application to convey this content on its own. In this case, to attract children's attention, we need very interactive videos, animations, and cute elements, which teachers usually cannot provide, and this is where AI can play a role. Right now, there is no AI model that 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 next few months to a few years. Once we break through this challenge, we can deliver content digitally, hoping to benefit hundreds of millions or even billions of children and people worldwide, providing them with free education.

Host: Will Giggle Academy integrate blockchain for Web 3.0 in the future? For example, will there be airdrops for everyone present?

CZ: In the short term, no, I don't want to get involved in another token or new tokens, etc. We may support all other tokens; we already have Bitcoin, Ethereum, and BNB. So I think we should focus on this first. They are building incentive mechanisms to make tokens work within this system.

We will build a reward mechanism to ensure the system operates well, but we may not need to issue our own token. For example, if I want to hire customer support or community forum administrators, I can sponsor some BNB to pay the kids, etc.

Additionally, today I discovered another interesting thing: AI companies are actually paying a lot of money to acquire human-generated data on the platform. If we can get children and parents to agree to provide their data to AI companies for training, then the data generated by these children while learning pronunciation, math, etc., can be used to train AI, and parents might receive rewards ranging from 10 to 100 dollars. For our target users, this is a significant amount. This way, we can achieve a direct payment method of "learn and earn" without using tokens. AI companies will 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 Web 3.0 economic model into the platform. This is a platform that starts from when children learn to speak and accompanies them until they find employment. Even when they are 70 or 80 years old, they can continue to learn. By then, when they find jobs, 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 run. However, this is a long-term plan that may take about ten years. But that's okay; I have time.

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