Binance, the world’s leading cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, appears to have spun off venture capital and incubation arm Binance Labs, according to its website.
“Binance Labs is an independent venture that is not part of the Binance Group and is not involved in any business operated by the Binance Group (including but not limited to the Binance cryptocurrency exchange),” the site’s disclaimer reads. displayed.
“Binance Labs has permission to use the trademark from Binance, but other than that, we have no other relationship with Binance Group,” the site adds. The change appears to have occurred between February 19 and February 24, according to the Internet Archive.
The newly independent company quietly cut ties with the broader Binance Group earlier this year, Bloomberg first reported on Friday, citing a spokesperson for the former company. The spokesperson added that Binance Labs staff contracts will now be separate from those of the cryptocurrency exchange staff, similar to the structure of the Binance-backed BNB Chain project, but operationally little will change.
Binance has been closely monitored since the cryptocurrency exchange agreed to pay more than $4 billion in fines to U.S. institutions last November. This is one of the largest corporate settlements in U.S. history.
Binance co-founder and now former CEO Changpeng Zhao pleaded guilty to one count of willfully violating the Bank Secrecy Act, walked away soon after, and is currently awaiting sentencing in the United States.
Richard Teng, Binance’s former global head of regional markets, took over as CEO the same month, and the spinoff was one of the biggest changes of his tenure.
Over $10 billion in assets
Binance Labs, led by fellow Binance co-founder Yi He, has invested in more than 200 cryptocurrency projects since 2018, including Aptos Labs, LayerZero, Polygon, and The Sandbox, largely funded by profits from cryptocurrency exchanges. The asset value is more than $10. 10 billion.
Last week, Binance Labs’ Incubation Season 6 concluded with investments in seven startups, including synthetic dollar protocol developer Ethena Labs and zkSync-based decentralized derivatives exchange Derivio. Season 7 of the show is scheduled to begin soon. “We are currently seeking founders of forward-thinking, early-stage projects to join the program,” Binance Labs said at the time.
Binance Labs has recently stepped up its investment efforts, supporting Bitcoin staking protocol Babylon and Ethereum staking protocol Renzo and Puffer Finance this year.
Last year, Binance Labs accepted its first external capital, closing a $500 million fund. However, it later began sending undeployed capital back to Limited Partners during the summer.
Block has reached out to Binance and Binance Labs for comment.
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