Binance Labs says it is "an independent venture and not part of the Binance Group."
- Binance spun off Binance Labs into a separate company at some point after Feb. 27.
- The divestment is one of the most notable actions of Binance CEO Richard Teng since he took over in November.
- The venture capital firm said it had a $10 billion valuation and was ranked as one of the most active crypto venture capital firms last year by CoinGecko.
Cryptocurrency exchange Binance spun off its venture capital arm, Binance Labs, earlier this year, in one of the most notable actions of new CEO Richard Teng, who replaced Changpeng "CZ" Zhao in November, Bloomberg reported Friday.
Teng took over after Zhao, who co-founded the company, pled guilty to charges of breaking sanctions and money-transmitting laws in the U.S. The appointment was seen as a sign of a steer toward greater regulatory compliance at Binance given Teng's background working for the Financial Services Regulatory Authority at Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).
In a February blog post, in which Binance Labs still identified itself as "the venture capital arm and accelerator of Binance" the firm said it had a valuation of $10 billion and around 250 companies in its portfolio, including Ethereum sidechain Polygon and sports-focused blockchain provider Chiliz.