Last year, the venture capital institution Binance Labs, which split from cryptocurrency giant Binance, announced a brand redesign for 2025 and expanded its investment strategy for the coming year, while Binance founder Zhao Changpeng (CZ) will also be deeply involved in cryptocurrency project investments.
Binance Labs has been completely independent from Binance since early 2024, becoming a fully independent cryptocurrency venture capital institution, and this brand redesign further emphasizes the company's independence and its evolving development vision.
Image source: X
Binance Labs stated on the social media platform X yesterday (31) that Zhao Changpeng will invest more time in participating in cryptocurrency project investments in the future:
With CZ returning to the stage and spending a significant amount of time investing in the cryptocurrency industry, he is very much looking forward to connecting with founders of reputable and innovative projects and personally participating in the development of these projects.
Zhao Changpeng pleaded guilty to violating the Bank Secrecy Act in November 2023 and reached a settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice, agreeing to pay a personal fine of $50 million and resigning as CEO of Binance. He was subsequently sentenced to 4 months in prison and was released on September 27 of last year.
Although Zhao Changpeng is 'prohibited from participating in the operations or management of Binance' after his release, he remains committed to promoting innovation in the cryptocurrency industry, focusing on investments in artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain technology, and his educational project, Giggle Academy.
2024: A Year of Remarkable Achievements
Binance Labs describes '2024 as an extraordinary year,' having completed 46 investment cases, of which 14 are from the BNB Chain-centric MVB program or Binance Labs incubation program, while the remaining 32 are direct investments.
Last year, Binance Labs' investment scope covered infrastructure and application fields, each accounting for half, specifically including: 10 DeFi projects, 7 AI projects, 7 Bitcoin ecosystem projects, 4 re-staking projects, 3 gaming projects, 2 ZK technology projects, 2 real-world asset (RWA) tokenization projects, and 2 consumer applications.
Additionally, emerging fields such as the Move system and decentralized science (DeSci) are also focal points for Binance Labs, with its investment landscape spanning major mainstream blockchains, including Ethereum, Solana, TON, Ethereum Layer 2 solutions, and even Berachain and Monad, while BNB ecosystem projects account for 20%, demonstrating Binance Labs' diversified layout strategy.
Looking ahead to 2025: Seizing the Momentum
Binance Labs holds an optimistic view on the market outlook for 2025, especially with the support of the new U.S. President Donald Trump, as the regulatory environment for cryptocurrencies is expected to improve significantly, further attracting more institutional investors and accelerating the industry's development and maturity.
Looking ahead, Binance Labs stated that the investment focus for 2025 will be on blockchain and cryptocurrency technology, artificial intelligence (AI), biotechnology, and the intersectional innovations of these fields.
On the other hand, Binance Labs will also expand its investment strategy, including entering high-potential areas such as the secondary market and over-the-counter (OTC) trading to further strengthen its market position.
Meanwhile, Binance Labs also anticipates that as technology moves from the development stage to mass production, some relatively stagnant areas, such as gaming, ZK technology, and privacy solutions, have the potential to see a revival opportunity this year.
This article is reprinted with permission from: (Block Chance)
'Binance Labs aims to rebrand! CZ will participate in investments and is optimistic about two sectors taking off this year' was first published in 'Crypto City'
