Binance Labs, the investment division of the leading cryptocurrency platform Binance, has continued investing in the crypto market. The firm’s commitment to investing remains surprising even though its parent company faces regulatory scrutiny and allegations of fraudulent activities in several jurisdictions.
Binance Labs Tops Investment Move
Binance Labs recently announced its latest participation in the Most Valuable Builder (MVB) incubator program, adding four new investments to its portfolio. These investments include AltLayer, a blockchain scalability specialist; Kinza, a platform for decentralized finance lending; KiloEx, an innovative decentralized exchange and Sleepless AI, a pioneering Web3 gaming platform.
However, Binance Labs has not publicly specified the financial figures behind its investments. Last week saw a flurry of fundraising activities across the crypto ecosystem, raising more speculations about the funds collectively raised.
Nonetheless, a few companies have disclosed the funds raised in their financial activity. D8X, a decentralized exchange (DEX) built on the Polygon network and backed by Binance, stated that it raised $1.5 million during its pre-seed funding round.
Similarly, ZkPass, a blockchain infrastructure provider prioritizing privacy, secured a significant $2.5 million investment in its seed funding round. Like D8X, this achievement was made possible by contributions from notable entities like Binance Labs and Sequoia China.
Meanwhile, Orbital, a centralized finance (CeFi) payments platform, also received $6.4 million in funding. Additionally, Solv Protocol, a platform where institutions and venture capitalists trade tokenized financial products, recorded a $6 million fund injection into its platform facilitated by Nomura Securities.
Binance’s Increased Regulatory Scrutiny In The US
Despite the ongoing regulatory challenges that its parent company is facing, Binance Labs has made significant investments in recent days. These investments demonstrate their dedication to supporting innovative projects and startups in the rapidly changing cryptocurrency landscape.
However, the popular crypto exchange has come under increased regulatory scrutiny in the US and other countries. Law enforcement agencies in these countries claim that the firm keeps flouting the regulatory guidelines governing its services.
Hence, it is no surprise that this constant regulatory scrutiny has created an atmosphere of increased caution and concern for the platform’s users. Recall that the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) took legal action against Binance and its CEO in June.
The allegations are based on what the regulator called a “blatant disregard for federal securities laws.” In addition, the allegations resulted in 13 charges being brought against the platform. Among them was that the exchange operated as an unregistered exchange in the United States.
The SEC’s primary allegation against Binance was that the company sold unregistered securities to the general public. Some assets the regulator considered unregistered securities include the BNB token and BUSD stablecoin.
In addition, the regulator stated that Binance failed to register as a broker or an exchange. Thus, it had no right to offer its services in the US financial markets.
Besides the United States, French authorities also recently took legal action against the popular crypto exchange. Multiple reports claim that these authorities raided Binance’s office in France to find evidence that proves its allegations that the crypto firm was facilitating illegal digital-asset transactions, including aggravated money laundering practices.
Also, Nigeria’s securities watchdog ordered the platform to cease operations in the country last week.
