CZ Defends Decision to Donate $3M in BNB Instead of Cash to Earthquake Victims

Changpeng Zhao (CZ), the founder and CEO of Binance, has come out to defend the exchange’s decision to donate $3 million in BNB and not cash to users affected by the recent earthquake disaster in Morocco.

Binance Donates $3M in BNB to Users in Morocco 

Last week, Binance announced donating $3 million in BNB to users affected by the disaster. The relief, distributed to around 70,000 people, focused mainly on Binance users residing in the Marrakesh-Safi Province, most impacted by the quake. Users received BNB tokens ranging from $100 to $10.

However, multiple humanitarian aid experts criticized Binance’s decision to provide financial aid in its in-house cryptocurrency. Some experts described the move as a marketing ploy designed to improve the exchange’s image. Others believe Binance should have distributed readily usable cash or items such as food and blankets instead of BNB. Experts also criticized Binance’s decision to help only existing users rather than all victims of the quake, amongst other things.

CZ Defends Binance 

In a tweet on September 18, Binance defended the exchange while giving reasons for their decision. While amazed that an entity can be criticized for donating funds after an earthquake disaster, he stated that the company got overwhelmingly positive feedback from users about the donation.

CZ responded to several issues raised by aid experts. Firstly, he stated that providing readily usable cash or items such as food and water takes time to organize, but crypto is fast. 

“Crypto can be converted to cash readily, especially for our users. A non crypto person saying crypto is not cash is like a blind person saying lights are useless,” he said.

While he agreed that the donation only helped Binance users and not everyone in need, CZ noted that they can only reach users at this speed.

“We are not saying we can solve all problems, but we try to help the little bit where we can. That’s what donations are,” CZ added.

While concerns have been raised about Binance not directly donating through charity organizations, CZ stated that Binance works with multiple prominent organizations globally but mentioned that “charity donations do not have to be mutually exclusive.” According to CZ, these organizations’ lack of traceability makes it difficult for Binance’s internal impact analysis.