That man is back! After nearly 4 months of imprisonment, Binance founder CZ was officially released from prison at the end of September this year, and is currently attending the Binance Blockchain Week Dubai 2024 Binance Blockchain Week Dubai 2024. On the afternoon of the 31st local time, CZ had a fireside chat with famous Youtuber Altcoin Daily hosts Aaron Arnold and Austin Arnold, and Block Tempo has summarized the key points for you:
Online live stream link
https://www.binance.com/zh-TC/live/video?roomId=2232681
The host first asked CZ what his prison life was like?
CZ frankly admitted that it was very unpleasant, as he was unable to do anything, and what he missed the most was interpersonal connections, his children, friends, and the community... He was not harassed in prison, although some prison guards were more harsh.
When the host asked if he felt the 4-month sentence was unfair, CZ acknowledged that it was a severe accusation, but he understood that all parties had their own positions, so he would not think about whether the charges were unfair or too severe.
Interestingly, CZ mentioned that there were articles claiming he was the richest prisoner in history, but in fact, the money they could use in prison was limited, and he jokingly said that he was quite poor in prison.
What is the current relationship between CZ and Binance?
CZ frankly stated that he should not and is not allowed to continue participating in Binance's operations, but he is still a major shareholder of Binance and can still obtain information about the company's operations, but he cannot make decisions or give orders.
Binance's current CEO, Richard Teng, also stated in a previous interview with Axios that CZ's withdrawal from Binance was a key condition of the settlement agreement with the Department of Justice, and he is prohibited from holding any leadership position at Binance.
However, Richard added that CZ remains the largest shareholder and will retain all shareholder rights, and he still has the right to change, nominate new board members or a new CEO.
He also revealed that he currently has enough energy and spirit to focus on his next goal, and he said he will have more time to research AI and the DeFi that he had too much idle time to study in the past. He will focus on his educational project Giggle Academy, and his future focus or investment priorities will be on three areas: Block, AI, and biotechnology.
Market forecast for 2025?
When it comes to the 2025 forecast, CZ was more conservative, saying he didn't want to give financial advice and emphasized that he couldn't predict the future. Overall, it was a very conservative forecast: unable to predict short-term changes in cryptocurrencies, but very optimistic in the long run.
What's the next step?
As for what CZ's next step is, he said he will focus on promoting his educational project Giggle Academy, which aims to provide free basic education for underprivileged children.
Many are concerned about whether the project will be combined with Web3? He said there are no plans to issue new tokens in the short term. In the long run, the platform can incorporate blockchain elements, such as supporting Bitcoin, Ethereum, BNB, etc., and they are building an incentive mechanism for the system to function normally.
