Full text of CZ's first public speech after being released from prison: Education takes time, and what I have now is time

整理：BlockBeats

The biggest anticipation of this year's Binance Blockchain Week has finally arrived. Binance founder Zhao Changpeng (CZ), who just finished a four-month prison sentence, appeared at the main venue and discussed topics related to his prison life, Binance, educational projects, and AI. This is also CZ's first appearance after his release.

After a $4.3 billion fine and four months of life in a U.S. prison, CZ, who paid a great price for his freedom, seems relatively chill, with more defined arm muscles than before. On the last day of Uptober, it's quite nice to hear CZ's voice again after about a year, especially as Bitcoin approaches its historical high of $70,000 this year.

Here is the full transcript of the speech:

Austin: I'm Austin from Altcoin Daily. CZ, this is your first interview since you got out. How was your experience in prison? It must not have been very 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 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 missed the most was actually the connections between people. I missed my children, family, friends, colleagues, and community. I missed other things too, but the longing for people was far stronger. You miss food and a comfortable bed, but those things didn't affect me much. This experience 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 opinions. There was a plea agreement, and I agreed to some of its terms, and I don't intend to make negative comments about it; I accept the outcome.

As for the sentencing, I received four months in prison. The judge's job is difficult, and different positions will have different views. Some people might think it's too light, while others might think it's too harsh. 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 has become less important to me; 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 that perspective, I consider myself lucky; the judgment is behind me, and I'm looking forward.

Austin: Did you make friends while you were inside?

CZ: Yes, you have to make friends; it can be tough to survive if you're isolated. 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 inside and no information about cryptocurrencies.

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 peers I met were quite friendly, although a few guards were somewhat indifferent, but I didn't suffer any physical harm. From that perspective, I consider myself very lucky.

Before going to prison, a prison consultant (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, and I'm now trying to help them reduce their sentences through legal means.

Additionally, there was a friend in prison named Michael, who was incarcerated for a marijuana possession case from forty years ago and has been there for 27 years, while marijuana is now legal. He earned a college degree while in prison and read six books. There are indeed some very talented people 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 copy and paste, only manual input. So in that situation, if I wanted to adjust 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 learn, read, and earn degrees; there are many good people there.

Relationship with Binance and Industry Trends

Austin: What is your current relationship with Binance?

CZ: I have stepped down as CEO and no longer participate 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 I 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 so much 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 with AI, I didn't spend much time understanding it before, nor did I have time to delve into the details of DeFi. So looking back now, being forced to step down actually has many benefits. If I had voluntarily resigned, 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 solid. Additionally, I'm not young anymore, but I'm 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 a great fortune.

Austin: I heard you have been 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, 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, but there is no time limit. However, the agreement can be updated, and the government will change. But I have no plans to return to the CEO position; I think the team is doing well without me, 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 Google Academy, and the other is investing. My investments are primarily focused on blockchain, artificial intelligence, and biotechnology. I no longer want to lead projects myself; I prefer to help other entrepreneurs develop their companies by providing funding, advice, resources, and support. I have some very important mentors, and I hope to become a mentor for 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 what will happen. However, 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 to. 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 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 also increase. From a long-term perspective, I remain 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 been able to predict that ICOs would become a hot topic, but by June, the trend was 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 and coming up with some very interesting ideas. If one of those projects explodes, then that area will grow. It's 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, and in some countries, like here, progress is quite 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 openly 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've 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 cryptocurrencies.

Austin: Okay, still 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 regard cryptocurrencies as currency. Bitcoin has already been recognized as a form of currency, and many other countries also see Bitcoin as cryptocurrency. Of course, cryptocurrencies come in different types, depending on the specific coin. But in the U.S., this is indeed a significant point of contention, and I don't want to comment too much on it.

About Giggle Academy

Austin: Suppose we meet again on the stage of the 2025 Binance Blockchain Week a year from now, not necessarily about prices, but where do you think Bitcoin or cryptocurrencies will be?

CZ: Predicting a year ahead is indeed very difficult, but I think 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 am currently investing at least half of my time in the Giggle Academy project. I think this project is very interesting and impactful, even though it won't be a highly profitable project.

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

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 do not have the opportunity to go to school. In other words, globally, about 1.2 to 1.3 billion people cannot access educational opportunities, primarily concentrated in very poor areas.

Many educational applications and projects operate in resource-rich areas, often supplementing existing educational systems. I believe we now have enough technological capability, combined with 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 teachers. If we want to send teachers there, it takes a long time. But now we can provide education digitally through a very interactive 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 whether there is economic return, and I believe it doesn't require too much funding.

Today, out of the 8 billion people in the world, about 1 billion are studying in schools daily, 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 a day. If we could turn this content into an application, combined with AI support, allowing it to interactively answer questions, that would be great. Although the initial investment might be high, requiring millions of dollars, once the AI engine is completed, the cost for each course might be around one million dollars. Twelve grades, twelve courses, thirty subjects, totaling about 300 million dollars. Even with a large buffer, it would only be about one billion dollars. I believe we can create content that meets all current educational needs and covers 500 languages.

The U.S. government spends 100 billion dollars annually on education, 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 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 quickly find jobs. For example, an 8-year-old child can do annotation 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, and a 16-year-old can do customer support work, such as answering frequently asked questions. A 15 or 16-year-old can work as a game tester or coder. 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 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, electronic 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 within the platform, but the most pressing issue we currently need to solve is to enable AI to consistently generate coherent 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 capture 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, 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 deliver content digitally, hoping to benefit hundreds of millions or even billions of children and people globally, 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 activities to participate in?

CZ: Not in the short term; I don't want to get involved in issuing new tokens and such. 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 could 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. For our target users, this is a significant amount. This way, we can achieve a direct payment model 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 economic model of Web3 into the platform. This is a platform that accompanies children from learning to speak until they find employment. Even when they are 70 or 80 years old, they can continue learning. 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 establish 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.