Changpeng Zhao, co-founder and former CEO of Binance, has stated that blockchain technology could potentially broaden global medical access by financially supporting "small research labs" dedicated to disease eradication. Zhao communicated this vision in a letter to a federal judge ahead of his April 30 sentencing hearing, where he will face the consequences for violating the Bank Secrecy Act.
"Looking forward, I see many opportunities in biotech as well," said Changpeng Zhao (CZ). "Specifically, I feel too much of the current medical research is too profit driven. Big pharma has their quarterly earnings reports, nudging them ever so slightly to prioritize profits, such as drugs that people have to take for forever. I'd like to help fund small research labs with the aim of curing diseases once and for all, as well as providing medical access to billions in the world using blockchain technologies."
According to the same letter, Zhao's initial interest in cryptocurrency was sparked by its "inclusiveness and equal opportunity it provides to everyone in the world." He sees similar possibilities within the biotech sector and aspires to devote the next phase of his life to this field. Besides leveraging blockchain technology to enhance medical access and fund small research labs, Zhao wishes to address underrepresented health issues. He pointed out certain health problems "that are not widespread enough to make research and development financially attractive for the major pharmaceutical companies, but are still devastating to the unlucky few whose health is impacted by them." Zhao has started engaging with biotech startups regarding these matters.
In a November post on X, Coin Edition reported that Zhao showed an interest in exploring "how to use crypto to accelerate research funding" in biotech. His post received positive feedback from members of both the biotech and crypto industries. Etica, a protocol supporting open-source research in decentralized science (DeSci), responded positively saying, "We are glad seeing others in the crypto industry start connecting the dots to biotech, research, and DeSci at large."
Built In reported that blockchain technology holds many potential applications within healthcare. Its distributed ledger technology can securely store and share patient data, safeguarding sensitive information such as credit card numbers from breaches. Blockchain can also boost security and transparency within pharmaceutical supply chains. Some firms have begun using blockchain for storing genetic data points for genome sequencing.
Zhao was born in China but relocated to Canada at a young age after his father was exiled due to his intellectual views, as per Investopedia. He studied computer science at McGill University and held various roles in the financial sector before launching Binance in 2017. The exchange now boasts a daily trading volume of $76 billion, with 90 million users worldwide. In November, Binance reached a settlement with the U.S. government over historical compliance issues, at which point Zhao agreed to step down from his CEO position and plead guilty to charges related to failing to maintain adequate anti-money laundering controls at Binance.
