Binance Establishes a $500 Million Fund To Promote WEB3 Adoption
June 1, 2022Binance Labs, the investment arm of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, is placing a significant bet on Web3’s development.
Binance’s venture capital and incubator arm said on June 1 that it had closed a $500 million fund with global institutional investors DST Global Partners and Breyer Capital.
The fund will invest in projects that will expand the use cases of cryptocurrencies while also promoting the adoption of Web3 and blockchain technology, according to Binance Labs.
As per the statement released on Wednesday, other prominent private equity funds, family offices, and corporations will also support the fund.
The crypto market continues to see big money infusions, and Binance’s current fund, while significant, is not unusual. Andreessen Horowitz, a venture capital firm, opened a $4.5 billion fund this week, the industry’s largest to date.
That fund, which is also aimed at Web3 businesses, is betting big on the convergence of technologies like machine learning (ML), artificial intelligence (AI), and blockchain to achieve what some are calling the internet’s next evolutionary stage.
“The connection between ideas, people, and economies is important in a Web3 environment,” said Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, adding that “if these three aspects come together to form an ecosystem, mainstream adoption of blockchain technology and cryptocurrency will be accelerated.”
Furthermore, the firm plans to invest $500 million in three stages of startup development: incubation, early-stage venture, and late-stage growth.
Binance Labs has a strong track record in the investment world, having invested in or sponsored over 100 companies in 25 countries since its start in 2018. 1inch, Audius, Axie Infinity, Dune Analytics, Elrond, Injective, Polygon, Optimism, The Sandbox, and STEPN are among the projects in its portfolio.
