Last Updated on October 9, 2022 by Bitfinsider

The crypto winter has lasted a long time, but news of blockchain technology continues to make headlines on a regular basis.

Binance, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in terms of trading volume, has similarly poured a lot of money into expansions and acquisitions and shows no signs of slowing down. Chengpeng Zhao (CZ), the CEO of the cryptocurrency exchange, has stated that there is still a great deal to be built, and that the company’s spending would likely approach 1 billion by the end of the year.

During the announcement, CZ found out that the company had made a profit despite the economic downturn, however they did not specify how much. Furthermore, he mentioned that the value of cryptocurrencies has dropped by over 50% from their astronomical rise in value last year.

Binance spent $325 million into 67 different ventures in 2022. Despite the decline in cryptocurrency prices this year, the company’s sponsored projects have risen dramatically. In 2017, the cryptocurrency trading platform only put $140 million into 73 initiatives. However, Binance still has a significant amount of dry powder to accumulate, which might increase the figure.

In addition, a $500 million agreement for sports Elon Musk’s Twitter Inc. purchase, which is back on the table, and financing $200 billion in Forbes media organization are both projected to be committed by crypto exchanges in 2023. CZ also mentioned that in the future months, Binance may look to acquire minority holdings in traditional e-commerce and gaming companies.

Binance CEO Favors Investments In DeFi And NFTs

CZ, unlike its competitor Sam-Bankman Fried of the FTX market, is interested in investing in NFTs and DeFi initiatives among money transfer providers. The CEO of Binance: “DeFi works NFTs are a lot more than selling pictures of monkeys. NFT use cases have not largely been well built — NFTs for tickets, for university degrees. I think the technology will stay.”

Competing crypto exchange FTX entered into substantial rescue and loan agreements with crypto firms such as Voyager, which ultimately declared bankruptcy. And as of now, FTX has paid $1 billion in an auction for its assets.

“We did look at a lot of lenders in recent months, because that’s where all the issues are,” Zhao said in an interview. “Many of them, they just take a user’s money and give it to somebody else. There’s not a lot of intrinsic value. In that case, what’s to acquire? We want to see real products that people use,” he added.

In addition, the Binance exchange has a team of around 30 individuals specializing in acquisitions and mergers. It also has an enormous $7 billion fund for investments.