CZ: The judgment has passed, and I am looking forward.

Author: CZ, Blockchain in Plain Language

This article is the first public statement made by Binance founder Zhao Changpeng after his release from prison in the United States on October 31. He returned to Dubai and engaged in a dialogue during the BN Blockchain Week.

Austin: I’m Austin from Altcoin Daily. CZ, this is your first interview after your release. How was your experience in prison? It must not have been good, right?

CZ: It was certainly not as interesting as it is now. The whole experience was very restrictive, with freedom taken away and not much to do, but it also gave me a lot of time to reflect. I learned many important lessons, such as what you miss the most when everything is taken away. For me, what I miss the most is actually the connection between people. I miss my children, family, friends, colleagues, and community. I miss other things too, but not nearly as intensely as I miss people. You miss food, a comfortable bed, but those things don’t affect me much. This experience has helped me refocus on my priorities in life.

Austin: Do you think this is a fair judgment?

CZ: That’s a very subjective question, and different people will have different views. There was a plea agreement, 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 the sentencing, I received four months of imprisonment. The judge's job is difficult, and different positions will have different views. Some people may feel it’s too light, while others may feel it’s too heavy. For the crime I committed—violating the Bank Secrecy Act—no one in U.S. history has been sentenced for a single violation, and I am the first.

Just a few weeks ago, a bank was fined $1.8 billion for similar issues, but no one was prosecuted. Whether it’s fair is less important to me now. The judge also mentioned many of my merits in court. Although I was sentenced, my 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 has passed, 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 asked me what coins they should buy. I could only say that I had no internet access and no information about cryptocurrencies while I was inside.

I made a few friends, and we still keep in touch. Honestly, there are many good people in prison, many of whom received long sentences for very minor offenses. Most of the companions I met were very friendly, although a few guards were somewhat 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, suggesting I only keep fifty dollars. When I got in, I found that others had two hundred dollars in their accounts, which made me seem like a "poor person." Overall, I didn’t encounter many problems and even made some friends. I am now trying to help them reduce their sentences through legal means.

Additionally, there is a friend in prison named Michael, who has been incarcerated for 27 years due to a marijuana possession case from forty years ago, and now marijuana is legal. He earned a college degree while in prison and read six books. There are indeed some very talented individuals there, but it’s hard to achieve anything in such a difficult environment. Every time I could use a computer for 15 minutes, I would be automatically logged off after that, and the computer couldn’t paste; I could only input manually. So in that situation, if I wanted to adjust the position of a piece of text, I had to rewrite it. In Michael’s time, there weren’t even computers. So, although the conditions were harsh, many people still worked hard to study, read, and earn degrees. There are many good people there.

Austin: What is your current relationship with BN?

CZ: I have stepped down as CEO and no longer participate in the daily operations of the company. My shareholder rights have not been affected, so I am still a major shareholder of Binance. I can still request some information, but I cannot make decisions or give orders. Overall, the relationship is still quite good; now there is a group of others working hard, and I have been "forced into retirement." The first month was a bit uncomfortable; it was emotionally hard to let go because I had invested a lot of effort into this company for seven years.

But I have always believed that a CEO's term should not exceed ten years because the world is constantly changing. Now with AI, I didn’t spend much time understanding it before, nor did I have time to delve into details like DeFi. So looking back, 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 complains.

Moreover, I now have more time, and I feel lucky. Although my reputation has changed, I still value my past achievements, which indicate that there was no fraud and no user funds were lost. So in some ways, my reputation remains quite solid. Additionally, I am not young anymore, but I am not too old either, and I still have the energy to do more things. Having the freedom and resources to do what I want now is indeed very fortunate.

Austin: I heard you are banned for life from managing any cryptocurrency trading platform. Is that true? Will you continue to invest in crypto projects?

CZ: Of course, first of all, to my understanding, the words "lifetime" and "ban" do not appear in the agreement I made with the government. The agreement states that I step down as CEO, and there is no time limit. However, the agreement can be updated, and the government can change. But I have no plans to return to the CEO position; I think the team is doing well and doesn’t need me back, and even if given the opportunity, I wouldn’t want to go back. I believe the term "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 investments are primarily focused on blockchain, artificial intelligence, and biotechnology. I no longer want to personally lead projects; I prefer to help other entrepreneurs develop their companies by providing them with funding, advice, resources, and support. I have some very important mentors, and I hope to become a mentor to others as well.

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, and 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 saw a surge. 2020 was a recovery year, and 2021 was a bull market. This year has returned to the previous highs.

So based on the current analysis, 2024 is a recovery year. As for what will happen next year, I am not sure, but in the long run, 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 increase. In the long run, I am still very optimistic.

Austin: What aspects of cryptocurrency do you find most promising? DeFi or meme coins?

CZ: I don’t intend to specify a particular area because predicting which will become the next hot spot is very difficult. For example, at the beginning of 2017, I might not have predicted that ICOs would become a hot topic, but by June, the trend became very clear, so it depends on which projects explode in certain niche areas. This morning, I met some entrepreneurs who are combining AI with blockchain, generating some very interesting ideas. If one of those projects explodes, then that field will grow. It’s hard to predict, but I will continue to support other builders in the industry and see what happens.

Austin: Regarding legislation, what do you think about the future direction of cryptocurrency regulation?

CZ: Current legislation is gradually improving, and in some countries, like here, progress is fast. In some major countries, due to the number of departments and personnel, progress may be slower. But overall, the trend is positive. For example, in mid-April 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 shows that when people need cryptocurrencies, the government will respond. Therefore, I believe the overall direction is positive.

Austin: I live in the U.S., and from my perspective, cryptocurrency has become an important election issue. Who do you think is more friendly to cryptocurrency, Harris or Trump?

CZ: Oh, I have no thoughts on that. I won’t comment on any election topics because I have dealt with U.S. law enough. I know there are election interference laws in the U.S., and anything I say in public could be taken out of context, so I don’t intend to touch on this topic or even get close to that "line." I just want to keep my distance. I think it’s great that both parties support cryptocurrency.

Austin: Well, from the perspective of the U.S., what policy or legislation do you think is the most important?

CZ: I think the most fundamental point is the classification of cryptocurrencies. There is a lot of controversy now; for example, in most other countries, they view crypto assets as currency. Japan has recognized Bitcoin as a form of currency, and many other countries also regard Bitcoin as a crypto asset. Of course, crypto assets come in different types, depending on the specific kind. But in the U.S., this is indeed a significant point of contention, and I don’t want to comment too much on it.

Austin: Assuming that a year from now, we meet on the stage of the 2025 BN Blockchain Week, not necessarily about prices, but where do you think Bitcoin or cryptocurrency will be?

CZ: It is indeed very difficult to predict a year ahead, but I think history may repeat itself, and our future will be in a relatively good position.

Austin: I like this prediction. CZ, what are your plans next?

CZ: I am currently spending at least half of my time on the Giggle Academy project. I think this project is very interesting and impactful, although it won’t be a highly profitable project.

Austin: Can you explain what Giggle Academy is to those who are not familiar with it?

CZ: It is a digital education platform, specifically designed to serve those who do not have access to educational opportunities. Currently, there are about 700 million to 800 million adults worldwide who are illiterate, two-thirds of whom are women. Additionally, according to various reports, there are about 300 million to 500 million children who do not have the opportunity to go to school. This means that approximately 1.2 billion to 1.3 billion people globally lack access to education, primarily concentrated in very poor areas.

Many educational applications and projects are developed in resource-rich areas, serving more as a supplement to existing educational systems. I believe that now we have sufficient technological capabilities, combining game developers, graphic designers, teachers, and AI, to create applications or tools that provide services to 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 we need to send teachers there, it takes a long time. But now we can provide education in a digital way through a very interactive application, primarily on the Android platform, as Android devices are cheaper in these regions.

If we can help 100 million people gain education, I think that would be very meaningful to me, and I don’t care about economic returns. I also believe it doesn’t require too much funding.

Today, among the 8 billion people in the world, about 1 billion are studying in schools every day, with an average class size of 30 or 50 students, and there are about 20 million teachers globally. 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, supported by AI, allowing it to interactively answer questions, it could be very effective. Although the initial investment might be high, requiring several million dollars, once the AI engine is completed, the cost for each course could be around one million dollars. With 12 grades, 12 courses, and 30 subjects, the total would be about 300 million dollars. Even with a large buffer, it would only be about 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 it better than traditional face-to-face teaching. In a class of 30 students, 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 work as game testers or coders. So I want to get children into the workforce earlier, not just to obtain a college or high school diploma.

We can help employers find suitable talent. For example, this child excels in mathematics, ranking in the top 10%, and has completed many projects; other children have high emotional intelligence and volunteer to tutor younger children 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 compensate for the lack of interpersonal interaction. For example, in physical education classes, online teaching is difficult 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 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 their own teaching.

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 typically 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 coming months to 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 by providing them with free education.

Austin: In the future, will certain parts of Giggle Academy integrate Web3 or blockchain? I think everyone here wants to know if there will be airdrop activities to participate in?

CZ: Not in the short term; I don’t want to get involved in issuing new tokens or anything like that. So we may support existing tokens, such as 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 token. For example, if I want to hire customer support or community forum administrators, I can sponsor some BNB to pay the children with those funds, 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 compensation 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 "earn as you learn" 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 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 continue to learn. By then, when they find jobs, we can suggest (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 plenty of time.

Original title: CZ's First Appearance After Release: Talking About Prison Life and the Future: Education Takes Time, and I Have Plenty of It Now
Original link: https://www.theblockbeats.info/news/55584
Translation: Rhythm BlockBeats

Article link: https://www.hellobtc.com/kp/du/11/5506.html

Source: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/wk2pttJZ8TFKPUd5ytnFMQ

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