Binance to Raise $1 Billion for Crypto ‘Recovery Fund’, May Buy FTX Assets

The founder and CEO of Binance has said the company’s crypto rescue fund will start at $1 billion to take over the industry’s White Knight status.

Changpeng “CZ” Zhao said in an interview with Bloomberg that the fund will have a “loose” structure, be open to the public on the blockchain and allow contributions from other market participants.

He provided additional information in a blog post on the Binance platform, stating that the fund will be operational as soon as possible.

he declared, “The industry needs to be saved now, not in 2023.”

According to CZ, the team will then determine how far the $1 billion can be spent before adding more money.

“Initially, we plan to set aside about $1 billion, and if that is not enough, we will throw in more money. We can pull it out and hopefully the industry will have recovered by then.”

On Nov. 14, exchange executives first announced the creation of an “industry recovery fund” to help companies “otherwise healthy but with liquidity issues” due to the impact of FTX. At that time, both Tron creator Justin Sun and BankToTheFuture CEO Simon Dixon declared that they would also contribute to the fund. However, it is not clear if they actually contributed.

Jump Crypto and Aptos Labs Commit to Recovery Fund

According to a press release, well-known cryptocurrency businesses Aptos Labs and Jump Crypto will each commit $50 million to a $1 billion industry recovery initiative led by Binance.

Venture capital firms Polygon Ventures and Animoca Brands, GSR, Kronos, and Brooker Group have also joined the trading house Jump Crypto and the recently formed Aptos Labs, the organization behind the Aptos blockchain, to contribute to the fund. I’m here.

Binance Targets FTX’s Bad Assets

CZ also said the fund could be interested in buying some of the troubled cryptocurrency projects acquired by the now-defunct exchange FTX, but which ones. did not specify.

He declared that their property needed to be investigated. They have invested in various initiatives, some good and some disastrous, but I believe some of the assets are salvageable. , check it.

FTX and hedge fund Alameda Research are two of Sam Bankman’s companies, Fried’s, which acquired and bailed out earlier this year following the failure of Terra and the resulting woes of the cryptocurrency sector.

Due to the risks, cryptocurrency lender BlockFi is considering starting its own bankruptcy proceedings after accepting a loan from FTX.US this summer. We have already discussed the possibility of backing from Binance.

Voyager Digital is now looking for a new buyer after accepting a $1.4 billion takeover offer from FTX in September.

SBF recently claimed in September that FTX had set aside $1 billion for additional acquisitions. There was even speculation that it was considering temporarily buying publicly traded trading software Robinhood.

Despite the fact that Binance’s CEO had previously inadvertently criticized FTX’s strategy in a June blog post, CZ now holds the position of an industry savior in the wake of SBF’s downfall.

“Don’t keep supporting poor companies,” he advised at the time. let them fight.

Binance.US Submits Bid For Crypto Lender Voyager, Per CZ

Changpeng Zhao also said the exchange’s American arm will submit a new offer for the defunct FTX’s planned acquisition of crypto lender Voyager.

Zhao revealed in an interview with Bloomberg on Thursday that Binance.US plans to put together a proposal for the bankrupt lending site. This was first reported by CoinDesk last week.

“Binance.US plans to bid on Voyager again after FTX failed to deliver on its promises.” he said.

After Voyager filed for bankruptcy, FTX became the frontrunner to buy the lender, and Binance’s bid was reportedly put on hold because the U.S. government worried it could pose a threat to national security.

“I think the US national security issue is a rumor spread by FTX to force us out of the bid,” Zhao said.

Zhao was born in China and raised in Canada, so the claim that Binance is a Chinese company persists. In a blog post published in September, he said: “I am a Canadian citizen.”

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