The cryptocurrency exchange Binance separated its venture capital division, Binance Labs, earlier this year. This was one of the most significant moves made by new CEO Richard Teng, who took over for Changpeng “CZ” Zhao in November, according to a Friday Bloomberg story.
A disclaimer on Binance Labs’ website states that the company is “an independent venture and not part of the Binance Group.” The business “is licenced by Binance to use its trademark but otherwise have no other relationship with the Binance Group.”
Teng assumed leadership following Zhao’s plea deal for violating American sanctions and money-transmitting rules. Zhao was a co-founder of the company.
Given Teng’s prior experience working for the Financial Services Regulatory Authority at Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), the appointment was interpreted as a step towards increased regulatory compliance at Binance.
Binance Labs maintained its identity as “the venture capital arm and accelerator of Binance” in a blog post from February. The company said it was valued at $10 billion and that it had about 250 companies in its portfolio, including Chiliz, a blockchain provider with a sports focus, and Polygon, an Ethereum sidechain.
Binance Labs ranked tenth among its peers with 177 investments as of September 2023, according to research conducted by CoinGecko last year. This is significantly less than Animoca Brands but equivalent to companies like Pantera Capital and Digital Currency Group. The study found that, with 372 investments, Coinbase Ventures was by far the most active cryptocurrency venture capital firm during that time. Bloomberg originally announced the split.