CZ’s Bold Move: Binance Founder Fuels Vitalik’s Biotech Vision with $10M BNB Donation

Crypto meets CRISPR as Binance’s former CEO opens the funding floodgates.

The Web3-Pharma Pipeline

Changpeng Zhao just dropped a crypto-powered moonshot into biomedical research—$10 million worth of BNB, straight to Vitalik Buterin’s cutting-edge biotech initiatives. No intermediaries, no traditional finance bottlenecks—just decentralized capital accelerating science.

Why This Burns the Hedge Funds

While Wall Street still debates blockchain use cases, crypto’s elite are literally reprogramming human biology with their profits. The donation sidesteps legacy grant systems entirely—a middle finger to slow-moving institutional funding wrapped in a philanthropic bow.

The Cynic’s Corner

Of course, the tax benefits are almost as elegant as the tech. Nothing lubricates regulatory goodwill like nine-figure ‘altruism’—especially when paid in tokens you control.

Buterin’s vision for decentralized biotech

Currently, important fields of science, especially biotech, are mostly in the hands of giant corporations. These develop treatments with a profit motive in mind, which can lead to negative outcomes for potential users. In Buterin’s view, there is a way to fix this, using decentralization.

According to the Ethereum founder, blockchain principles, such as transparency, open source development, and privacy, are key to making scientific progress work for everyone. In a 2023 blog post, he explained several ways that “decentralized science” can benefit people in fields like biotech.

For instance, zero-knowledge proofs can be used to protect public health from epidemics while also protecting user privacy. At the same time, independent researchers can develop tools like open-source vaccine protocols and pocket air testers quickly, saving lives in a future pandemic.

What is more, he explained that crypto has a unique way to fund public goods, thanks to its focus on community. To that end, Buterin himself donated millions to his biotech fund, mostly with crypto he made from memecoins.