Former Binance executives launch a $100M venture fund to invest in crypto and blockchain tech startups

The ongoing global economic downturn has not stopped investors from pouring billions into the cryptocurrency space. As you may recall, yesterday Andreessen Horowitz launched a $4.5 billion crypto fund to invest in crypto and blockchain tech startup companies.

Today, a group of former executives from Binance, the largest crypto exchange globally, has launched a $100 million crypto fund, the Old Fashion Research (OFR) announced Thursday. OFR is a multi-strategy blockchain investment fund that covers early-stage incubation, venture capital, M&A, and other special situations.

OFR sees the future of technology will experience a paradigm shift from Web2.0 to Web3.0, which is powered by blockchain to realize truly decentralized data and self-sovereignty of assets. The fund adopts a multi-strategy approach for all stages of the startup lifecycle, helping capture the underlying value of Web3.0 and support the next generation of crypto native entrepreneurs.

OFR Group was founded in late 2021 by former Binance senior executives. Largely operating in stealth mode, OFR invested in over 50 blockchain projects, building a diversified portfolio across blockchain ecosystems and geographic markets. It has backed projects such as WOO Network, a trading platform featuring deep liquidity and trading execution at low costs; Genopets, the first move-to-earn NFT game; Metaverse Magna (MVM), Africa’s largest gaming community; MetaDerby, the first free-to-play-and-earn game on Avalanche; and ZetaChain, the first blockchain and smart contract platform built for omnichain interoperability.

OFR’s founders include Ling Zhang, who was previously the Vice President of M&A and Investments at Binance. While there, Zhang led some of the most successful acquisitions and strategic investments, including FTX, WazirX, Swipe.io, Multicoin Capital, Tokocrypto, Chiliz, CertiK, and others.

Wayne Fu, former Head of Corporate Development at Binance, also leads OFR as the Founding Managing Partner to bring his extensive experience in exchange and ecosystem partnerships.

The Venture arm is bolstered by Jiang Xin “JX”, who led Binance Labs’ and Launchpad’s major investment deals such as Axie Infinity, Moonbeam, Alpha Finance, and others.

Wei Zhou, the former CFO at Binance and now the new CEO at Coins.ph, the largest licensed crypto wallet and exchange in the Philippines, will serve as both strategic advisor and investor in OFR.

The funds raised by OFR includes major limited partners from inside and outside the crypto ecosystem. The lead investor is Wemix, the global gaming platform backed by the listed leading gaming company Wemade. There are other notable backers like the family office of Gang Wang (JUE Capital), who was the founding investor at DiDi and the leading crypto wallet, SafePal. They have chosen OFR because of the impressive track record and expertise of its key executives to dive into the crypto ecosystem. OFR aims to support on crypto-native founders from the idea stage, supporting them through the life-cycle with its proprietary research, network, and marketing support.

“We’re very excited to come out of stealth with our new fund and help build the next generation of Web 3.0 dApps,” said Zhang. “The OFR team has established solid knowledge and a wide range of experience across M&A, investment and incubation from our previous successful portfolio building at Binance. Deep down, we are a group of passionate builders, and we are keen to seek founders who share the same long term vision and passion of the crypto industry, and we are determined to grow with them together.”