Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, has raised $500 million to create a new venture capital fund for start-ups.
According to Arab Net, Binance Labs, the company's investment arm, said it has secured support from venture capital firms DST Global and Breyer Capital as well as family offices and businesses. She did not mention her name.
Binance Labs plans to use the capital to invest in companies building Web3.
Although still a loosely defined term, Web3 loosely refers to a future hypothetical iteration of the Internet that is more decentralized than the online platforms in existence today and includes Blockchain technology, shared digital ledgers – the technology behind most major cryptocurrencies.
The launch of the new Binance Fund is arriving at a time when Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are in sharp decline. Bitcoin has fallen more than 50% since hitting an all-time high of nearly $69,000 in November. This has affected publicly listed crypto companies such as Coinbase, whose shares have fallen 69% since the start of 2022. Investors fear the recession will fuel private crypto startups.
While valuations for startups of $1 billion or more are slowing a bit, Binance Labs CEO Ken Lee said: There is a current impact on private markets in the early stage, according to CNBC.
Binance Labs hopes to take advantage of the recent drop in digital assets to find founders building what it considers the next big thing in technology.
He told me: We are looking for projects that have the potential to drive the growth of the Web3 ecosystem. These projects may include infrastructure, non-fungible tokens, and decentralized autonomous organizations. Binance estimates that there are currently 300,000 to 500,000 active Web3 developers, a number it hopes will grow exponentially.
On the other hand, Binance is also planning to acquire a $500 million stake in Twitter to support Elon Musk's bid to acquire the social media platform, a move the company hopes will boost Its goal is to bring social media and Web3 together.
Founded in 2017 by Chinese-Canadian entrepreneur Changpeng Zhao, Binance is the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, with a turnover of $490 billion in March. the past.
