After maintaining a distance from the social networking space, Binance founder and former CEO Changpeng Zhao seems to be on track for a comeback. In a post on X, Zhao said he is going to be launching a new project called Giggle Academy. This is a free-for-all education project that aims to provide basic education for grades 1-12 through engaging, interactive games. As per Zhao, no crypto token – existing or new – is part of this project.
Zhao stepped down from the position of Binance’s CEO last year, after he pleaded guilty for violating anti-money laundering and sanctions laws in the US. He is now facing potential jailtime, a decision on which will be finalised around April 30 when Zhao is slated to appear on court for this verdict.
Despite these legal uncertainties, Zhao has decided to go forward with launching Giggle Academy. Zhao is hiring for a small team including teachers who can create digital content, to run this project and report directly to him.
“Building a high-quality and sticky education platform that is entirely free and accessible to all is the most impactful thing I could do for the next chapter of my life,” Zhao said on the official website of this virtual academy.
In the whitepaper of this project, Zhao has mentioned that this educational project is aimed at providing access to underprivileged kids in developing countries. In addition to basic school subjects like languages, maths, science, and biology – Zhao is looking to include subjects like blockchain, AI, finance, negotiations, and entrepreneurship among others.
Zhao is zeroing down on the gamification of learning – intended to reward students with NFT badges, scores, and rankings.
“Education is fundamental to everything in our world. My area of expertise is building (teams to build) software platforms. We (together with a team) can reach hundreds of millions of people. This is scalable, and thus high impact,” Zhao further noted.
The former Binance CEO has been freed in the United States on a $175 million (roughly Rs. 1,450 crore) bond after pleading guilty in November to money laundering violations. His plea also included a $50 million (roughly Rs. 414 crore) fine and required that he step down as Binance chief executive.