Ramazan Eles 
Binance has apparently spun off its venture capital and incubation arm, Binance Labs, as an independent entity, according to information on its website.
A disclaimer on the site now states that “Binance Labs is an independent venture and not part of the Binance Group nor is it involved in any of the businesses operated by the Binance Group (including but not limited to the Binance cryptocurrency exchange).”
The change seems to have occurred sometime between Feb. 19 and Feb. 24, as per the Internet Archive.
Bloomberg first reported on Friday that the newly independent entity quietly cut ties with the broader Binance Group earlier this year, citing a spokesperson for the former unit. Binance Labs staff contracts are now separate from employees of the crypto exchange, similar to the structure of the Binance-backed BNB Chain project, the spokesperson added, but little will change operationally.
Binance has faced increased scrutiny since agreeing to pay more than $4 billion in fines to U.S. agencies in November — one of the largest corporate settlements in U.S. history.
Following this, Binance’s co-founder and former CEO Changpeng Zhao stepped down from his position, having pleaded guilty to willfully violating the Bank Secrecy Act and is currently awaiting sentencing in the U.S.
Richard Teng, Binance’s former Global Head of Regional Markets, took over as CEO in the same month, with the spin-off being one of the significant changes under his tenure so far.
Binance Labs, led by fellow Binance co-founder Yi He, has invested in over 200 crypto projects since 2018, including Aptos Labs, LayerZero, Polygon, and The Sandbox, primarily funded by the crypto exchange’s profits — with its total assets valued at over $10 billion.
Last week, Binance Labs’ incubation season 6 concluded, with investments made in seven startups, including synthetic dollar protocol developer Ethena Labs and zkSync-based decentralized derivatives exchange Derivio. Its season 7 program is set to launch soon.
Binance Labs has recently increased its investment activity, backing Bitcoin staking protocol Babylon and Ethereum restaking protocols Renzo and Puffer Finance this year.
Last year, Binance Labs accepted its first external capital when it closed a $500 million fund. However, it later started sending undeployed capital back to Limited Partners over the summer.
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