- Binance Labs was the lead investor in more than 80% of the deals executed.
- Binance Labs also did follow-on funding for established DeFi protocols.
The ongoing crypto winter has frozen investments into cryptocurrency and blockchain startups. According to a recent report by Crunchbase, venture capital (VC) funding into the Web3 ecosystem fell 76% in Q2 2023 when compared to the same period in 2022.
Read Binance Coin’s [BNB] Price Prediction 2023-24
However, despite the gloom all around, some entities have put their foot forward and demonstrated their belief in Web3’s future potential.
Binance to the rescue
According to Messari, Binance Labs, the venture capital arm of crypto behemoth Binance [BNB], was the most prolific venture investor over the last six months. In fact, Binance Labs was the lead investor in more than 80% of the deals executed in the aforementioned time period.
Source: Messari
Binance’s feat of being the lead investor in 14 out of 17 deals was nearly double that of the second-best DWF Labs. On the other hand, Coinbase Ventures, the investment arm of top American crypto exchange Coinbase, was the lead investor in only 2 out of the 14 deals finalized in the last six months.
VC financing is provided by institutional investors to entrepreneurs and startup businesses, typically during the expansion stage of their operations. The motive is not only to help with capital but industry expertise as well.
Additionally, Binance Labs reinvested in established DeFi protocols like Radiant Capital, Maverick Protocol, and Pendle Finance. As per Messari, this was indicative of a shift in their strategy to help expand proven projects to the BNB Chain.
Binance Labs has emerged as a white knight in the cryptocurrency sector. Earlier in the month, Binance Labs pledged investments to the tune of $5 million into the troubled Curve Finance [CRV] token.
Native entities struggle
While Binance continued to pump money into other protocols, its native blockchain witnessed a steady decline in liquidity in 2023. The total value locked (TVL) on the network plunged 42% on a year-to-date (YTD) basis, per DeFiLlama.
How much are 1,10,100 BNBs worth today?
Lawsuits by U.S. regulators and concerns around growing incidents of hacks prompted investors to take out their assets from the Binance-branded network.
Source: DeFiLlama
At the time of writing, exchange token BNB was valued at $217 per CoinMarketCap. The asset lost more than 10% of its value over the last month.