Over the next several weeks, I intend to publish at least one new lesson each day from a course we are developing at Prison Professors:
Understanding Web3: Blockchain, Digital Ownership, and the Future of the Internet
We are creating this course for people who are serving time in federal prison. Many entered the system before smartphones, social media, digital payments, or blockchain technology became part of everyday conversation. They may hear words such as Bitcoin, blockchain, wallet, token, or Web3 without having access to the internet or educational resources that explain what those words mean.
We want to close that knowledge gap.
Our course will teach vocabulary, critical thinking, digital literacy, financial awareness, personal responsibility, and preparation for the economy that participants will encounter upon release.
More importantly, it will reinforce a message that has guided my life for decades:
Every person must become the architect of his or her own future.
Becoming Your Own Prison Professor
While serving 26 years—approximately 9,500 days—in federal prison, I learned that I could not allow time to stand still.
I could not wait for the government to change my life. I could not wait for the perfect teacher, the ideal program, or better circumstances. If I wanted to emerge from prison with opportunities, I had to create a self-directed curriculum.
I had to read.
I had to develop a stronger vocabulary.
I had to learn how to write and communicate.
I had to build skills.
I had to create a body of work that would allow other people to judge me by more than the bad decisions that led to my imprisonment.
The work I completed became evidence. It showed that I was preparing for success, even while living inside an environment that could extinguish hope.
That record opened relationships and opportunities. It helped me create multiple income streams after my release. Once I achieved financial independence, I could devote more of my time and resources to building the Prison Professors Charitable Corporation and advancing this ministry.
My story does not mean that every person will follow the same path. It shows what can happen when a person begins preparing long before an opportunity appears.
A Profile Can Become Proof of Work
People in prison frequently tell us that they feel forgotten. They may struggle to see a connection between what they do today and the life they hope to build years from now.
We want to help them make that connection.
Through Prison Professors Profiles, participants can publish journal entries, book reports, course responses, release plans, and other evidence of growth. Each entry becomes part of a dated record showing how the person used time in prison.
A Profile does not guarantee employment, early release, financial support, or any other outcome. It does, however, allow a participant to demonstrate discipline, consistency, critical thinking, and preparation.
When employers, family members, mentors, advocates, or community leaders evaluate a person, they can see more than promises. They can see the work.
That is why every lesson in our Web3 course will conclude with open-ended questions. We will encourage participants to write 300 to 400 words explaining what they learned, how they evaluated the material, and how the lesson relates to their preparation for success.
The objective is not simply to complete a course.
The objective is to build a record.
Gratitude to CZ and the Web3 Community
I am deeply grateful to @CZ_binance for believing in our work and supporting our mission.
CZ’s example and generosity brought greater awareness to Prison Professors. That attention introduced our work to people throughout the BNB and Web3 communities.
An independent community then formed through @PrisonProf_BNB and launched PrisonProfessorsToken.com as a Web3 resource intended to support our mission.
That community is separate from our nonprofit, but its members have shown extraordinary commitment. Through their activity, they have provided more than 942 BNB to our treasury.
We are preserving those tokens to advance the long-term mission of Prison Professors. I pledged to keep them in our cold-storage treasury until the summer of 2027.
We do not regard those resources as an invitation to slow down. We regard them as a responsibility to build more.
We will continue creating courses.
We will continue distributing educational resources.
We will continue helping people document their preparation.
We will continue advocating for pathways that allow people to earn higher levels of liberty through merit, discipline, and demonstrated growth.
Why Web3 Belongs in a Prison Curriculum
Web3 is not only about cryptocurrency prices.
It involves questions about technology, trust, ownership, identity, communities, recordkeeping, financial systems, cybersecurity, and the future of work.
Participants should understand concepts such as:
Blockchain
Cryptography
Digital wallets
Public and private keys
Tokens
Smart contracts
Stablecoins
Decentralized applications
Digital ownership
Custody
Scams and social engineering
Online communities
On-chain transparency
Even without internet access, a person can begin learning the vocabulary. A participant can study diagrams, work through paper-based exercises, evaluate case studies, and practice explaining technical concepts in plain language.
That process develops more than technical knowledge. It strengthens reading, writing, reasoning, communication, and judgment.
Those skills transfer to many careers and many areas of life.
We Welcome Community Review
We are still building this course.
As we complete each lesson, I intend to publish it as an article on X. Members of our community will be able to see what we are teaching and offer suggestions.
We welcome thoughtful input from people with experience in:
Blockchain technology
BNB Chain
Cryptography
Cybersecurity
Digital assets
Adult education
Correctional education
Financial literacy
Workforce development
Community building
We especially want help identifying explanations that may be technically inaccurate, unnecessarily complicated, incomplete, or difficult for a person without internet experience to understand.
Once we complete all 20 lessons, we will produce a full workbook. We intend to publish the course on our website and begin distributing it to people in prison.
A member of our community recently asked what I intend to accomplish during the next six months.
My answer is simple:
I intend to build ’n build.
I will continue working every day to advance our mission, create educational resources, and give people in prison more reasons to believe that the decisions they make today can influence the opportunities available tomorrow.
Thank you to CZ.
Thank you to the BNB and Web3 communities.
Thank you to everyone who supports our commitment to education, accountability, preparation, and second chances.
We welcome your insight as we build this course.