Former Binance executive aims to raise $100M to start crypto adoption focused VC

Bill Qian, former head of venture capital investments and acquisitions at Binance Holdings Ltd., said it aims to raise more than $100 million through a new cryptocurrency venture capital fund.

Qian said bloomberg He recognizes the need for a significant increase in users as one of the most important challenges of the crypto industry and a key factor in founding Cypher Capital.

As chairman of Dubai-based Cypher Capital since leaving Binance in June, Qian told Bloomberg that he plans to back startups focused on web3 and decentralized internet using blockchain technology. said.

Qian believes the cryptocurrency industry faces a significant obstacle in terms of limited user growth, which he attributes to the predominant use of cryptocurrencies in trading and gambling. increase. To address this issue, Cypher Capital is focusing its investments on projects that can attract approximately 5 billion internet and social media users to his web3 ecosystem. This is an investment thesis he believes can add to the macro adoption of cryptocurrencies around the world.

Qian did not disclose to Bloomberg whether the fund has secured commitments from other outside investors, but the resurgence of digital assets this year, when bitcoin surged about 50%, has made fundraising less of a challenge. Said it was gone.

“Our macro environment is much better than I expected six months ago,” he said in an interview.

With a team of 10 employees, Cypher Capital hired former Tencent executive Elaine Liu to step up its expansion efforts in the UAE. In November, the company opened an office in its Dubai marina dedicated to cryptocurrency and blockchain startups as part of a strategy to identify potential investment opportunities.

Dubai, like the United Arab Emirates (UAE) more broadly, is emerging as a hub for the cryptocurrency industry. This is because jurisdictions such as the United States have stepped up regulation following the FTX bankruptcy and last year’s scandal involving legal action against FTX. Founder Sam Bankman-Freed.

Major figures in the cryptocurrency industry such as Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao and Polygon co-founder Sandeep Nailwal have moved to Dubai, which recently issued a final set of rules to regulate the cryptocurrency sector. issued.