Changpeng Zhao wants to donate $1M community gift

The co-founder and former CEO of Binance, Changpeng Zhao, has announced on X that he wants to donate the $1 million received as a gift from the crypto community. The move that started as a small donation to rug-pulled investors has now birthed a new donation to the community.

According to the backstory of the donation, the former Binance boss donated $100,000 (150 BNB) to support victims affected by the Libra token rug pull. The rug pull, which was linked to the President of Argentina, Javier Milei, saw investors lose heavy amounts of funds as the project collapsed within hours of its launch.

While the market was still scampering, and lawyers initiating lawsuits against the Argentine president, Zhao extended aid to the community, sending the BNB to some of the affected persons. Although the initiative was meant to end that way, the unexpected happened. The wallet CZ used to send the funds received donations from the crypto community, with the total funds now hitting over $1 million.

Changpeng Zhao set to make community donation

The donation has put Zhao in a tough position where he has to make a decision. Although the funds were meant as a gift for his philanthropic act, the former Binance boss has mentioned that he intends to donate the funds, asking the crypto community for ideas and projects that he can fund.

According to Changpeng Zhao, he could airdrop the funds, burn them, or donate them to charities globally. He also asked about the likelihood of using it to provide liquidity but noted that most of these ideas come with their headaches. He added that he favored charity more, but mentioned that the organization must be open to crypto and allow transparent tracking.

I might do a combination with the money. To see what works well.

Many suggested donating to charity, which I support. I love using crypto for charity. My requirement for charity is that the receiving organization has to be crypto-enabled, and tracking must be allowed to the end…

— CZ 🔶 BNB (@cz_binance) February 23, 2025

“Many suggested donating to charity, which I support. I love using crypto for charity. My requirement for charity is that the receiving organization has to be crypto-enabled, and tracking must be allowed to the end beneficiary. Transparency. Welcome suggestions,” he said.

However, he mentioned that he favors liquidity the most because it is the only idea that makes sense. He added that it is a way to indirectly give back to the community. “Currently, I am leaning towards doing more to support liquidity. I don’t care if funds on this address make or lose money. I think this is an indirect way to give back to our community too,” he added.

The community reacts as CZ faces the dilemma of a final decision

The crypto community looked hyped about the initiative, with most of them praising Changpeng Zhao, while others offered their opinion on the issue. The post where CZ asked for public opinion has been restricted due to spam issues, but he assured users that he will be on the lookout for the best ideas regarding the funds.

While some users mentioned that Changpeng Zhao should buy some specific tokens so he could kickstart the alt season, others wanted him to share the funds so they could use them for personal reasons. However, most of the handles tweeting at him were related to funding charities, with some of the users asking for funds for helping out-of-school children.

While it remains to be seen what CZ will do with the funds, one outstanding thing is the transparency in the whole issue. From a philanthropic standpoint, the former Binance CEO has chosen to continue helping people. Changpeng Zhao was previously involved in a lawsuit with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), leading to sanctions from the agency.

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