Binance Holdings Ltd. is targeting a fund of about $1 billion for the potential purchase of distressed assets in the digital asset sector, said its chief executive Changpeng Zhao.
“If that’s not enough, we can allocate more,” Zhao, also known as CZ, said in an interview with Bloomberg Television.
Zhao has been a key figure in a period of turmoil for crypto. His tweets highlighting concerns regarding the financial health of Sam Bankman-Fried’s rival FTX caused its collapse.
Binance cemented its position as the world’s largest cryptocurrency trading platform after FTX’s chaotic slide into bankruptcy.
Last week, Zhao said Binance is planning an industry recovery fund to help strong projects facing liquidity pressure. The goal is to limit contagion from FTX’s collapse, he said, trying to appear as the chief “rescuer” of cryptocurrencies.
In the interview, Zhao said there will be a post on the fund soon and that Binance has spoken to several industry players about it. “We are going with a loose approach where various industry players will contribute as they want,” he said.
This year’s crypto plunge has already removed about $80 billion from Zhao’s personal fortune, but at $15 billion it still far outstrips anyone else in the industry, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
