Binance co-founder He to lead US$7.5b VC arm in shuffle

BINANCE, the world's biggest crypto exchange, said its co-founder Yi He will serve as the new head of venture capital arm Binance Labs, replacing Bill Chin, who left earlier this year.

Binance Labs manages total assets of US$7.5 billion. That makes it 1 of the largest venture capital players in the crypto industry, rivalling giants such as Silicon Valley investment firm Andreessen Horowitz's digital assets-focused efforts, which total US$7.6 billion so far. Since its inception in 2018, Binance Labs says it has made a 2,100 per cent rate of return.

The leadership shuffle shows the importance that Binance places on venture investing during the current market downturn. "Having been through 2 bear markets, I understand that this is the best time for investing more aggressively," He said in an interview. She expects to hire more staff for Binance Labs, roughly doubling its size to as many as 40 people. She will focus on projects that will pave the way for wider adoption of crypto and blockchain.

He, currently Binance's chief marketing officer, launched the company with chief executive officer Changpeng "CZ" Zhao after leaving Chinese crypto exchange OKCoin. A former TV host who refashioned herself as a crypto entrepreneur, she was one of the pioneers in China's blockchain community and has been actively involved with the exchange's venture capital arm since its early days.

Binance Labs recently closed a US$500 million fund backed by investors including DST Global Partners and Breyer Capital. The unit has invested in more than 200 projects ranging from gaming and decentralised-finance platforms to crypto infrastructure, including the Sandbox and STEPN, as well as blockchain startup Aptos.

"This is the perfect moment for Yi to take on a larger role in Labs as the bear market presents an unparallelled opportunity to identify those projects with the tenacity to thrive in tough market conditions," CEO Zhao said in a statement.

Two of Binance's most significant investments have met with uncertainty. The exchange earlier committed US$500 million for Elon Musk's proposed takeover of Twitter Inc., but the deal is the subject of a legal battle as Musk seeks to rescind his US$44 billion offer. Binance also agreed to invest US$200 million in Forbes, but the news publisher's plan to go public via a blank-check company fell through. BLOOMBERG