Key Takeaways:
Binance founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) revealed that he has given $2 million to Prison Professors in the last two years. Four private gifts of $500,000 each were received, 6 months apart.The money is contributing to broader access to free educational courses in federal prisons around the country, and the access will be available nationwide next year.
CZ, or Changpeng Zhao, has announced a new philanthropic endeavor that provided $2 million to U.S. prison education programs. The Binance founder said he intentionally kept the donations private until now.
In the last two years, I made 4 donations of $500k every 6 months to Prison Professors to help providing free education in US prisons. Kept it private, until now. https://t.co/cesE7J4Qxk
— CZ 🔶 BNB (@cz_binance) June 18, 2026
The announcement sheds light on one of CZ’s largest publicly known charitable initiatives since leaving Binance’s CEO role and increasingly focusing on education-related projects.
CZ Reveals Two Years of Private Support
CZ shared the news on X, which read ‘I have made a total of four separate $500,000 donations to Prison Professors in the past two years.
A few weeks later the NPO confirmed it has received the fourth contribution, which brings Zhao’s total to $2 million. The organization says the money is being dedicated to offering free educational support to those imprisoned in federal prison.
Michael Santos is the founder of Prison Professors, a platform for education, accountability and reentry preparation, and served as a prison professor for over 20 years. The money will speed the effort to get educational content to individuals in the U.S. federal prison system by the use of technology in the institutions, the organization said.
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Funds Support Nationwide Expansion
The profits are being used to expand programs that have increased from a small group of students to thousands of students nationwide, Prison Professors said. The nonprofit will leverage those resources to expand DigiLearn materials, enhance participant tracking tools, and create technology to quantify engagement and outcomes.
Binance Academy Content Included in Programs
In terms of expansion, there is an opportunity to combine content from several partners, such as Binance Academy. The organization will also be working on enhancing tools for participants to keep track of their progress through journals, release plans, goal setting and personal development profiles.
Prison Professors says the information obtained from these programs can show cell phone users that a value can be placed on education efforts to rehabilitate inmates.
Education Remains a Major Focus for CZ
The disclosure is a part of CZ’s continued education efforts. Outside of crypto, Zhao has made many comments about the need for learning that is easy to access. His advocacy for Prison Professors is a direct continuation of that larger theme in relation to knowledge and self-improvement as an avenue to opportunity.
The organization has said donations were not made public at the time but they help create infrastructure that could support tens of thousands of participants.
Its impact is expected to be very great in the coming year as they plan to see many more federal institutions make its educational platform available. CZ’s $2 million donation has now been disclosed adding to the spotlight surrounding social and educational impact schemes and the growing support of blockchain industry leaders.
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