With more than one million people going through Prison Professors programming, we receive many questions from people in prison, their families, and the people who support them.
I am grateful to have a team that brings those questions to me, because each question gives us an opportunity to create more resources. One question we received recently was:
How can crypto education truly transform lives?
My answer begins with a broader principle:
Education transforms lives.
The more we learn, the more capable we become of dealing with the world as it exists, rather than as we want it to be. That principle helped me through 26 years in federal prison. It helped me come home with my dignity intact. It helped me build businesses, become financially independent, and create Prison Professors so that I could help others prepare for success.
Crypto education is one part of that larger process.
Learning How the World Is Changing
When I was in prison, I did not know anything about Bitcoin, blockchain, or cryptocurrency. I did not have access to the internet. When Bitcoin began in the 2008 and 2009 era, traditional media did not explain much about it to people living inside prison walls.
I finished my prison term in 2012. After 26 years in prison, it took me time to become fluent with society again. Technology had changed. Business had changed. Communication had changed. The economy had changed.
When I began learning about cryptocurrency, I did not see it only as a new kind of money. I saw it as a sign that the world was moving into a new era.
A person who studies crypto begins learning about many subjects:
Blockchain
Bitcoin
Ethereum
BNB
Solana
Smart contracts
Web3
Tokenization
Digital ownership
Artificial intelligence
The future of work
A person does not need to become a trader. A person does not need to speculate. But a person should become fluent enough to understand the vocabulary of the digital economy.
That knowledge can create opportunities.
Education Builds Job Readiness
Father Greg Boyle, the founder of Homeboy Industries, has said that the best way to stop a bullet is a job.
I believe in that message.
When a person has a job, that person has more than income. A job can bring structure, dignity, responsibility, and confidence. A job can help a person secure housing, provide food, support a family, and begin preparing for retirement. A job can help a person build a new identity as a law-abiding, contributing citizen.
That is why education matters so much.
If people in prison learn how the economy is changing, they can prepare for opportunities before they return home. They can begin building a vocabulary that employers value. They can begin developing confidence. They can show others that they are serious about preparing for success.
Crypto education is not the only subject people should study. But it is one subject that can help people understand where the world is going.
Why People in Prison Should Learn About Crypto
People in prison should not wait for the government, the prison system, or anyone else to transform their lives.
I went to prison during the era of President Ronald Reagan. He used to say that the nine words many Americans feared hearing were: “I’m from the government, and I’m here to help.”
Whether a person agrees with that statement or not, the lesson is clear:
We cannot wait for someone else to save us.
We have to invest the time and energy to develop skills. We have to build vocabulary. We have to develop a basic understanding of how the world works. We have to prepare for the job market that will exist when we return home, not the job market that existed before we went to prison.
The digital economy is expanding. Businesses are using blockchain. Developers are building smart contracts. Entrepreneurs are creating new ways to transfer value, verify ownership, and tokenize real-world assets. Artificial intelligence agents may one day conduct transactions through digital currencies.
If a person does not understand these basics, that person may be at a disadvantage.
If a person does understand them, even at a beginner level, that person can begin preparing for new opportunities.
Learning Is the Real Transformation
Some people may hear the word “crypto” and think only about money.
I think about learning.
The transformation does not come from owning a token. The transformation comes from the discipline of studying something new. It comes from developing curiosity. It comes from building the confidence to ask better questions and prepare for the future.
That same strategy empowered me through prison.
I read. I wrote. I studied leaders. I learned how to communicate. I learned how to set goals. I learned how to document progress. I learned how to build a record that would show others I was preparing for success.
Those habits changed the way I served time.
Those habits also changed the way I came home.
A person in prison can begin the same way. Study crypto. Study artificial intelligence. Study business. Study writing. Study communication. Study personal finance. Study leadership. Study any subject that can help build a better future.
The subject matters.
But the commitment to learning matters more.
A Real Example From Prison Professors
Prison Professors has already benefited from the Web3 community, even though we did not create a token, launch an exchange product, or build a crypto project ourselves.
People who learned about our mission formed their own community around Prison Professors Token. They made clear that I did not create it and that Prison Professors did not control it. But they became passionate about our mission of ending intergenerational cycles of recidivism and poverty.
Through a smart contract, their community created a mechanism where a percentage of transactions would support Prison Professors. No person had to manually process each transaction. The contract executed automatically.
That experience helped me understand the power of this new technology. It showed me how people could use blockchain tools to support a mission, build a community, and create resources for social impact.
I have made a personal pledge that I will not use those resources until the summer of 2027. To build responsibly, we need a plan. The plan is still developing because I do not yet know how much capital will be available. But I do know the mission:
We will continue working to help as many people in prison as possible prepare for success.
Build Skills Before You Need Them
A person in prison may not have internet access. A person may not be able to trade, invest, or participate directly in the digital economy while inside.
But a person can learn.
A person can read lessons. A person can study vocabulary. A person can write book reports. A person can journal about what they are learning. A person can build a release plan that shows how digital-economy education will support future employment.
That is self-advocacy.
Stakeholders want to see evidence of preparation. Case managers, probation officers, judges, employers, and community members may all respond differently when a person can show a documented record of growth.
Learning about crypto can become part of that record.
A person might write:
What I learned about blockchain
Why Bitcoin matters as an innovation
How smart contracts work
Why tokenization may change business
How artificial intelligence and crypto may connect
What jobs may exist in the digital economy
How I am preparing for those jobs now
Those written reflections can become assets. They can show discipline, curiosity, and preparation.
Do Not Wait
Nobody should wait until release to begin preparing.
The world will not stop changing because someone is serving a sentence. The economy will not slow down. Technology will not pause. Employers will continue looking for people who can learn, adapt, communicate, and solve problems.
That is why I encourage people in prison to begin now.
Start with the basics. Learn the language. Write down what you learn. Ask how each lesson can help you prepare for employment, stability, and contribution. Build a record that shows you are not waiting for freedom.
You are working toward it.
Final Word
Crypto education can transform lives because education transforms lives.
It is not about hype. It is not about speculation. It is not about getting rich quickly.
It is about learning how the world is changing and preparing to contribute to that world.
The same strategy that helped me through 26 years in prison can help others today: learn, document, build, and prepare. Every lesson can become a step toward confidence. Every written reflection can become proof of growth. Every new skill can become part of a pathway to employment, stability, and freedom.
I am Michael Santos, founder of Prison Professors, and I believe in you.
Self-Directed Reflection Question:
What subject can I begin learning today that will make me more valuable, more prepared, and more capable of building a law-abiding, contributing life after release?