Binance’s CZ Among Instructors for New Crypto MasterClass
Other instructors in the course include Coinbase COO Emilie Choi and a16z founder Chris Dixon
Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao | Stephen McCarthy/ for Web Summit/“Changpeng Zhao” (CC license) modified by Blockworks
While many say FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried inadvertently ran a master class on how not to run a business, several crypto executives have recently partnered with online education platform MasterClass to teach a course on the space.
But the class does not elaborate on the bankruptcy of FTX and what led up to it. A MasterClass spokesperson told Blockworks that the lessons were in production before the crypto exchange’s crash.
“Sam Bankman-Fried was filmed for the class prior to the FTX crash,” the representative said. “Given recent events, he was removed.”
The class is taught by Binance CEO and co-founder Changpeng ‘CZ’ Zhao; Emilie Choi, president and COO of Coinbase Exchange; Chris Dixon, founder and managing partner at venture capital firm a16z; and Paul Krugman, an author and New York Times columnist.
The crypto executives join more than 180 instructors on the platform, which launched in 2014.
“Cryptocurrency and the blockchain have the potential to disrupt the financial system,” MasterClass CEO David Rogier said in a statement. “With the landscape rapidly changing every day, we’re bringing together the industry’s key voices to help members gain a foundational understanding of the crypto and blockchain ecosystem.”
Topics of the lessons range from the history of crypto, decentralization, Web3, DAOs, NFTs, the segment’s volatility and a debate between Krugman and Zhao on stablecoins — a hot topic following the collapse of Terra’s algorithmic stablecoin earlier this year.
The course comes nearly a month after crypto exchange FTX filed for bankruptcy amid allegations that the company transferred billions of dollars of user funds to sister company Alameda Research, also founded by Bankman-Fried.
The exchange faced a “liquidity crunch” after Zhao tweeted that Binance would liquidate its holdings of FTX token FTT. The price of FTT subsequently tumbled, leading to what Bankman-Fried called a “withdrawal backlog” at FTX.
Veteran restructurer John J. Ray III replaced Bankman-Fried as FTX’s CEO after his resignation. Ray said the internal management of the company was “a complete failure.”
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