Changpeng Zhao, founder and former CEO of Binance.
Ntonio Masiello/Getty Images
Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange through volume exchange, has sold its minority stake to the United Arab Emirates state-owned investment company MGX for $2 billion.
Binance said in a statement Wednesday that the deal was paid with Stablecoin, who wanted to be named. The crypto exchange added that the deal was the company’s first ever institutional investment and was the largest in the world among crypto companies. Binance did not disclose details, including the size of the shares, the closing date of the transaction and how the proceeds were used.
MGX said in a statement that the investment marks its first entry into the cryptocurrency industry. The company is funding Stargate, a $500 billion AI infrastructure project led by Chatgpt developer OpenAI and Japanese tech investment giant SoftBank Group.
The investment was made during a pro-Creputo regime, thanks in large part to President Donald Trump’s plan to provide a more friendly regulatory environment for digital assets. Last month, the SEC asked the court to file a case against the obligation in a joint motion with the cryptocurrency exchange. The financial regulator previously sued Binance and its billionaire founder Changpeng Zhao in 2023, accusing improper exchange of client funds and artificial inflated transaction volumes and other allegations.
In the same year, Binance promised to violate the U.S. anti-money laundering law and agreed to pay a $4.3 billion fine. Zhao resigned as CEO of Binance in 2023 and was sentenced to four months in jail for money laundering violations in 2024.
Zhao founded Binance in 2017 and has since grown it into the world’s largest crypto exchange, processing more than $11 billion in trading volume within 24 hours on Thursday, according to Tracker Coingecko. Zhao, who owns a majority stake in Binance, is the richest person in cryptocurrency with a net worth of over $60 billion. Forbes Estimated. Zhao is now playing a consulting role in Binance’s Venture Capital Farm Yzi Labs after being released from U.S. custody in September 2024. The exchange said in January. Yzi Labs (formerly Binance Labs) invests in blockchain, AI and biotech startups.
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