Binance says it will set up US$1 billion ‘recovery’ fund for distressed crypto businesses

Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, said it will establish a US$1 billion fund for its “Industry Recovery Initiative” to mitigate the damage from the collapse of the FTX exchange, according to a Thursday blog post.

See related article: Crypto exchange Bybit establishes US$100 million fund to aid institutional clients

Fast facts

• Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao first announced the launch of an industry recovery fund on November 14 to help firms that “are otherwise strong but in a liquidity crisis” following the bankruptcy of cryptocurrency exchange FTX.

• Binance posted its initial commitment, which shows 1 billion Binance USD (BUSD), a fiat-backed stablecoin issued by Binance and blockchain infrastructure platform Paxos.

• The exchange said the commitment may increase to BUSD 2 billion depending on need.

• According to Paxos, BUSD is approved and regulated by the New York State Department of Financial Services and 100% backed by reserves of fiat cash and U.S. Treasury bills.

• Binance added that industry participants Jump Crypto, Polygon Ventures, Aptos Labs, Animoca Brands, GSR, Kronos, and Brooker Group had committed US$ 50 million worth of assets to the fund, with more expected to join.

• In an interview with Bloomberg on Thursday, Zhao said Binance.US would also make a bid for bankrupt crypto lender Voyager Digital, with FTX unable to complete an agreed-upon purchase of the company.

See related article: Binance says it will set up crypto recovery fund, industry standards group