The venture capital arm of the largest crypto exchange in the world announced the closing of a new $500 million investment fund. Binance will use the money to invest in “projects that can extend the use cases of cryptocurrencies and drive the adoption of Web3 and blockchain technologies,” including gaming, NFT, metaverse projects, and DeFi.
The fund is supported by DST Global Partners, which previously led a $300 million funding round for Blockchain.com, and Breyer Capital, the lead investor in the Series A round for Circle, the company behind the collateralized stablecoin USDC. Other participants, which have not been named, allegedly include private equity funds, family offices, and corporations.
“In a Web3 environment, the connection between values, people, and economies is essential,” Binance CEO Changpeg Zhao said as the new fund was launched. The money will be split between incubation, early-stage venture, and late-stage growth investments.
Together with the Objective Moon program that saw Binance pump €100 million in French and European blockchain projects, the Binance Labs fund cements the exchange’s ambitions to position itself as the leader of crypto’s integration with the mainstream economy. The news comes hot on the heels of a recent Morgan Stanley report that predicts a 50% drop in crypto venture capital investments this year.
