Changpeng Zhao, CEO of cryptocurrency exchange Binance, reportedly met with investors in Abu Dhabi in an effort to raise cash for the company’s cryptocurrency recovery fund.
According to a Nov. 22 report from Bloomberg, CZ and other Binance affiliates discussed raising cash for their proposed fund, intended to help projects with potential liquidity problems. Zhao and the Binance team reportedly met with potential backers associated with UAE National Security Adviser Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed, while a Binance spokesperson said the meetings were “focused on general global regulatory matters.” .
The Binance CEO first announced the fund on November 14 following FTX’s “liquidity crisis” and bankruptcy filing. It is unclear how big the cryptocurrency exchange intended the fund to be. FTX’s bankruptcy filings suggest the company owed more than $3 billion, while it had just over $1.2 billion in cash as of November 20.. However, C.Z. added on Twitter that the fund was never intended for “liars or scammers.”
To reduce further cascading negative effects of FTX, Binance is forming an industry recovery fund, to help projects that are otherwise strong, but in a liquidity crisis. More details to come soon. In the meantime, please contact Binance Labs if you think you qualify. 1/2
— CZ Binance (@cz_binance) November 14, 2022
To further reduce the cascading negative effects of FTX, Binance is forming an industry recovery fund, to help projects that are otherwise strong, but are in a liquidity crisis. More details soon. In the meantime, please contact Binance Labs if you think you qualify. 1/2
Binance and CZ became embroiled in the FTX debacle after announcing that the exchange planned to liquidate its supply of FTX Token (FTT) and discuss a possible redemption at the request of then-CEO Sam Bankman-Fried. Binance withdrew from the potential deal less than 48 hours later, FTX filed for bankruptcy, and Bankman-Fried resigned.
“If we can’t help you, probably no one else will,” CZ said Nov. 17, referring to a call with Bankman-Fried about FTX. “Probably a lot of people turned down the deal before we did.”
Based in Dubai since October 2021, CZ has continued to drive adoption in the Middle East. In September, The Dubai Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority has given the green light for Binance to offer virtual asset services to qualified retail and institutional investors. The Abu Dhabi Financial Services and Global Market Regulatory Authority granted Binance similar approval to offer cryptocurrency services in November.
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