Quick take:
- Binance founder and CEO Zhao “CZ” Changpeng says the company could invest more than $1 billion by the end of the year.
- The world’s largest crypto exchange platform is looking to go ‘binge shopping’ amid the crypto winter.
- The company will target opportunities in DeFi, NFTs and publishing.
Binance is planning to go on an investment binge at the tail-end of the year. Zhao “CZ” Changpeng, the founder and CEO of the world’s largest crypto exchange platform says the company will invest more than $1 billion before the close of 2022, mirroring a similar pledge made by FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried.
Binance has already invested $325 million across 67 projects this year. That is more than double the $140 million it invested across 73 projects in 2021. Moreover, this year’s figures do not include the $200 million commitment made to Forbes and a potential $500 backing for Elon Musk’s re-initiated Twitter acquisition.
According to the announcement, Binance is looking to expand its ecosystem by investing in promising decentralised finance (DeFi) and non-fungible token (NFT) projects. The company is also assessing opportunities in the publishing segment of the industry.
Unlike FTX’s strategy, which targets distressed companies, Binance is targeting promising projects.
Speaking to Bloomberg, CZ said the company did assess opportunities within the lender market in recent months, also pointing out that the segment has been one of the most affected by the crypto downturn.
“Many of them, they just take a user’s money and give it to somebody else. There’s not a lot of intrinsic value. In that case, what’s to acquire? We want to see real products that people use,” he said.
Earlier this year Binance announced a $500 million fundraising in a round backed by DST Global Partners, Breyer Capital and a host of closed family offices.
According to CZ, Binance has been aggressively investing in NFTs and fan tokens, as well as in traditional payment service providers.
“DeFi works,” Zhao said. “NFTs are a lot more than selling pictures of monkeys. NFT use cases have not largely been well built — NFTs for tickets, for university degrees. I think the technology will stay.”
The company is also eying opportunities in traditional e-commerce and gaming companies, CZ added.
Stay up to date:
