Binance launches a $500 million crypto investment fund for Web3 startups

In collaboration with global investors, Binance Labs, the investment arm of Binance, has unveiled a $500 million fund to invest in crypto and Web3 startups at various phases of development. The move is representing the growing optimistic attitude to crypto investments despite the market decline last few weeks.

Binance Labs said in a statement that it had raised $500 million for its first startup fund, with support from venture capital firms DST Global and Breyer Capital and other organizations. Binance Labs intends to allocate the new funds to startups at various stages of development, spanning from incubation to late-stage growth.

“In a Web3 environment, the connection between values, people, and economies is essential,” Binance founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao said. “If these three elements come together to build an ecosystem, that will accelerate the mass adoption of the blockchain technology and crypto.”

Founded in 2018, Binance Labs has invested in and backed more than 100 startups around the world, including 1inch, Axie Infinity, Dune Analytics, Elrond, Polygon, and The Sandbox.

The launch of Binance’s new fund arrives at a time when Bitcoin and other digital currencies are down sharply. Bitcoin has plunged more than 50% since reaching an all-time high of nearly $69,000 in November. That’s taken a toll on publicly-listed crypto companies like Coinbase, whose shares have plunged 69% since the start of 2022. Investors fear the slump will feed through to privately-held crypto startups.

Despite the market decline in the last few weeks, the launch of the new fund with another considerable sum raised represents the growing optimistic attitude to crypto investments among venture capitalists.

Thus, the industry’s largest venture capital firm, Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), has unveiled the largest-ever $4.5 billion crypto fund focused on crypto and Web3. The new Crypto Fund IV has doubled the size of its previous fund, launched in 2021.