Binance Charity to provide over 30K Web3 scholarships in 2023

Among the education centers involved include colleges in Australia, Cyprus and Germany, Nigerian-based tech hub Utiva, Women in Tech, and two Ukrainian organizations.

The philanthropic arm of Binance — Binance Charity — is set to fund 30,65 scholarships to students keen on forging out a career in Web3 in 2023.

The Binance Charity Scholar Program (BCSP) will provide free Web3 education and training courses which will enable tech-savvy students to upskill without having to leap-frog any unnecessary financial barriers, Binance Charity explained, in a January 20 blog post:

“We recognize that digital education and skills development can be out of reach for many, resulting in a blockchain industry that lacks diversity and talent. The Binance Scholar Program changes all that, covering the costs of tuition and course fees at some of the world’s leading universities, colleges and vocational training providers.”

The blog stated that over 82,000 applicants were interested in becoming a part of the next BCSP cohort, which equates to an acceptance rate of about 37%.

Amongst the education partners getting involved include University of Western Australia, University of Nicosia in Cyprus, Frankfurt School of Finance & Management in Germany, and Nigerian-based technology hub Utiva.

French-based tuition-free training center Simplon, Women In Tech, Kyiv IT Cluster, and Ukraine’s Ministry of Digital Transformation will also host some of BCSP’s events.

Binance Charity said they partnered with the Ukraine-based departments to help re-train Ukrainians who may have lost their jobs due to the war with Russia.

The partnership with Women In Tech will endeavor to train about 3,000 women in rural South Africa and Brazil to support future female entrepreneurs.

Binance Charity will also receive partnership support from Binance Academy — the company’s non-profit blockchain education portal.

In 2022 alone, Binance Charity hraised more than $3.5 million — most coming in the form of Binance USD (BUSD) — which helped fund over 290,000 hours of Web3 education and training courses.

Our @BinanceBCF team has travelled across the globe this year, offering help and education to those in need.

As we roll into the new year, let's look back on everything #Binance Charity has achieved in 2022. pic.twitter.com/mBSpD0jpaF
— Binance (@binance) December 30, 2022

Head of Binance Charity Helen Hai said interest in the program continues to grow in spades:

“The response to our Web3 education projects has been unprecedented, showing the keen appetite of so many people to learn about blockchain, De-Fi, NFTs, coding and much more.”

“We’re seeing interest from a diverse range of people, including a great ratio of women [...] With so many more education initiatives with amazing partners in the pipeline, we’ve never been more excited to build a more inclusive Web3 world,” she added.

Binance Charity did not confirm when the 30,000+ positions would be filled and when each of the scholar programs would start.

Binance

Interviewed by Cointelegraph at the Paris Blockchain Week Summit on Wednesday, Helen Hai recalled the empowering support she received from Changpeng Zhao (CZ) when pitching the initial idea for what has become a multi-million-user platform.

Attending and reporting from the two-day Paris Blockchain Week Summit (PBWS), Cointelegraph’s managing editor, Alex Cohen sat down with Helen Hai, head of Binance's NFT platform for a candid discussion on the early inspirations for their NFT platform, as well as her vision for regulatory communication, among other topics.

Citing the methods in which the Asian economy capitalized on the growth potential within the second industrial revolution by driving job creation for the lower and middle classes, Hai stated that the internet era — typically referenced as Web2 — was a contributing factor for the widening of digital-economic disparities between various societal groups.

During the interview, Hai spoke on how this imbalance could be re-established through the usage of Web3 technologies, as well as revealing insights into the early stages of Binance’s NFT marketplace, the importance of cultivating reciprocal relationships with regulators in policy making, and the emphasis required on female leadership in the Web3 ecosystem.

.@iamwill is joining @HelenHaiyu and Athena from @TheBinanceNFT for a fireside chat at Paris Blockchain Week to talk about NFTs, crypto, and how it'll shape the future of the music industry!

Watch on #Binance Live now ⬇️
— Binance (@binance) April 12, 2022

Binance launched its nonfungible token (NFT) marketplace in June last year in an attempt to capitalize on the mainstream euphoria around digital collectibles, registering 2.5 million NFTs and over 1,000 creators at the turn of 2022.

Hai revealed that that platform’s initial inspiration arose from the potential for an artistic renaissance with the support of blockchain technology, speaking with pride on their optimistic values of idea creation and learn-as-you-go style deployment.

“For us, it’s very much 2% strategy and 98% implementation.” Stating that founder and CEO, Changpeng Zhao, known as CZ, “ really empowers leaders, like myself. If I have a good idea, he says, Helen, why don’t you just try it and you’ll prove yourself.”

"Six months down the line, we have accumulated millions of users, and have innovated the mystery box and the initial game offering (IGO) model for the gaming industry. We’re still in the learning stage, but we’re working with our users everyday on how we can help creators to get more connected with them.”

Sharing her expectations for the prospect of engaging in constructive, open dialogue with regulators in the crypto and NFT space, in addition to the possible hurdles of education literacy and governmental advocacy, Hai stated that she’s “very positive”, but that currently “regulation is very much a one way thing”, and should evolve into a “two-way communication” system.

“We need to get people in the crypto industry to find a good way to communicate everything we’ve done well and the things we need to improve to the regulators, and the regulators should also learn what is happening, what is actually achieving values, and how they can use regulations to protect the users.”

Hai was enthused by conversations with senior banking officials in Dubai who empathized with her concerns around the stringent financial limitations of banking transactions in comparison to the crypto industry. She mentioned that the growing trend of employments from the traditional finance and governmental office to crypto could help bridge the gap of understanding and foster greater

Helen Hai