Binance has created a one billion dollar investment fund to support companies they see as beneficial to the future of the developing crypto technology in hopes of cleaning out the schemes and scams using ICO’s and cryptocurrency.
Cleaning up the Crypto Space
Ella Zhang, a graduate of the Stanford School of Business and former investment director at Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Beyers who joined Binance just two months ago, told Bloomberg News “We’d like the bubble to break,” when speaking about the goals of the venture incubator Binance Labs she was hired to lead. She went on to add,
“We still see a lot of hype in the market, valuations are high and unreasonable. We really think if the bubble bursts, it’s a good thing for the industry.”
While she concedes that the bull market was good for bringing attention and users into the space she also believes that good projects will survive the bubble bursting. Binance, which was founded in Hong Kong but has relocated to Malta due to regulatory crackdowns on virtual currency, benefited greatly from the 2017 bull market emerging as one of the largest cryptocurrency trading platforms by volume.
Binance Labs’ seven-person team has been mandated with finding projects to invest between $1 and $10 million into. Companies it will consider will have to be focused on solving problems in blockchain technology. This money comes with conditions though as any project that accepts money from the fund will have to join their Crypto Governing Initiative.
CGI Will Hold Funds to White Paper Promises
The fund has developed the CGI to combat scams related to cryptocurrency and ICO’s. Zhang described the purpose of the initiative saying “The main purpose of this is to fight scams and shitcoins, and to boost crypto and blockchain technology,”
CGI Binance will encourage projects to actually build what they have pledged in their white papers and fund managers will have to vow not to participate in pump and dumps schemes. Any team that fails to uphold their commitments will have their tokens delisted from the exchange and investment pulled.
Binance Labs has chosen 20 cryptocurrency funds to partner with. It has made four investments so far in the company’s tokens and equity though some venture capitalists find conflict in doing so. Zhang said;
“If we see founders contribute to both sides, we’ll hold both sides, sometimes it’s hard to see which one is more valuable, but our position is to support the founders and create value for the project as a whole.”
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