KEY POINTS

  • Yi He thinks the firm should "make investments more aggressively"
  • However, she said it shouldn't be done "just for the sake of investing"
  • She also shared the types of firms and projects Binance Labs is interested in

Yi He, the co-founder of leading crypto exchange Binance and the head of the exchange's venture arm, Binance Labs, has revealed that her firm is looking to invest in Web3 and crypto startups amid the bearish market, which she believes presents optimistic opportunities.

He pointed out in an interview with Forkast that Binance Labs is careful with its investments, as there are several "copycat" projects that capitalize on crypto fads to make money and dump their tokens on investors. She said only rock-solid businesses will survive this bearish market.

"We generally figure out what we really want no matter if we're in a bull or bear market. In a bear market, I think we should make investments more aggressively, but not just for the sake of investing," He told the outlet. "There's this tendency in the investing industry to follow the herd and many funds are concerned that they may miss a four-year or five-year investing cycle. Some of our LPs have also suggested investing in more projects and investing faster. I've told them not to be nervous."

When asked about the types of crypto firms Binance Labs will invest in, He mentioned that the venture arm of the world's biggest crypto exchange is interested in blockchain infrastructure-focused firms, projects "that run all kinds of blockchain applications" and blockchain security firms.

"I prefer projects that have their own innovative approaches over copycats. If you tell me you're just like a certain trending project and share a similar user base, which could thus provide some quick money, this won't work for me," the Binance executive explained.

In the same interview, He was also asked about updates on the Forbes deal that Binance announced earlier this year. She responded by saying that the talks are still going on.

"This is an investment related to its initial public offering through a back-door listing, in plain language. But there seem to be some difficulties, so they're making adjustments. Perhaps some of their shareholders might want to dilute holdings," He said.

A representation of cryptocurrency Binance is seen in this illustration taken August 6, 2021.
A representation of cryptocurrency Binance is seen in this illustration taken August 6, 2021. Reuters / DADO RUVIC