Binance, one of the world's largest cryptocurrency exchanges, has announced it is launching a $1 billion "Social Impact Fund" to foster the growth of blockchain and cryptocurrency startups.
Ella Zhang, head of the exchange's incubator program Binance Labs, said during an online meetup Thursday that the capital for the fund will be coming from Binance's own reserves as a way to contribute to the industry ecosystem.
Binance will pour in the $1 billion over 10 phases of $100 million each and, in essence, will create a combination of a fund of funds and a direct fund that invests in blockchain projects.
For the fund of funds, the incubator chief further explained that Binance is seeking 20 funds to invest in, which each must manage a pool of at least $100 million in order to be eligible.
Investments will be made through Binance's own BNB token, she said.
The first project to be supported is a blockchain-powered ride-hailing initiative that was recently announced by Chen Weixing, CEO of app developer Funcity and former founder of Chinese ride-hailing app Kuaidi Dache.
"We believe it's a disruptive social experiment. Binance Labs hopes to work with more aspirational projects to explore blockchain applications and together move forward the growth of the industry," Zhang said.
Bitcoin and U.S. dollar image via Shutterstock.
The leader in blockchain news, CoinDesk is a media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies.
CoinDesk is an independent operating subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups.
Binance Reveals Plan for $1 Billion Blockchain Startup Fund
Published on Jun 1, 2018
by Coindesk | Published on Coinage
Coinage
Recent News
View All
Blockchain Bites: Bitcoin's Run, Uniswap's Hemorrhaging Value, Anchorage's Banking Bid
Bitcoin is nearing all-time highs in price and market cap last set three years ago.
Japan's megabanks to lead experiment with digital yen
We have, in order, Cheese Bank with a $3.3 million theft, Akropolis with its $2 million loss, Value DeFi with a whopping $6 million exploit and finally Origin Protocol's loss of $7 million.
Number of new Bitcoin addresses spikes amid growing FOMO
Japan's three largest banks, as part of a group of 30 private sector actors, are set to collaborate on an experiment with a digital yen.
Not just Wall Street: Quant trader explains why Bitcoin price is going up
Sam Trabucco, a quantitative trader at Alameda Research, believes four general factors are pushing up the price of Bitcoin.