Cryptocurrency Binance has appointed its co-founder Yi He to oversee its venture capital arm Binance Labs, two months after it raised $500 million for a new fund focused on Web3 and blockchain investments.
Cryptocurrency Exchange Binance Appoints Co-Founder Yi He to Critical Mission
Focusing on early-stage investments, Binance Labs manages a total of $7.5 billion in assets across more than 200 portfolio projects, according to the press release. Among portfolio companies Ethereum sidechain Polygon, crypto exchange FTX and security firm CertiK.
Yi, who joined the company just prior to its founding in 2017, will oversee Binance Labs’ global strategy and day-to-day operations, with a particular focus on supporting infrastructure projects and increasing utility in crypto and blockchain projects.
Yi He will continue his work at the parent company, including corporate businesses, marketing, Binance P2P, and Earn.
Speaking to CNN on Wednesday, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao said that Yi is “very aggressive” and that Binance will “invest quite a lot” in the near term. He also said that Binance as a whole plans to continue hiring and aims to increase its staff from the current 6,000 to 8,000 by the end of the year.
While many crypto companies said they would make various layoffs after the declines in the crypto money market, Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, announced that it could “continue to grow in this challenging period thanks to the steps it has taken before”.
*Not investment advice.