Binance Founder’s $1 Billion Plan to Save Crypto Quietly Fizzled Out
- IRI has invested less than $30 million, wallet analysis shows
- Project had big-name backers like Jump Crypto, Animoca
Changpeng Zhao
Photographer: Joseph Nair/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
In the chaotic aftermath of crypto exchange FTX’s unraveling last November, the industry was in disarray. Prices were tumbling, investors were frantically trying to limit their exposure to the sunken platform, and startup funding was evaporating.
Then Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, billionaire founder of Binance and lone surviving titan of crypto after Sam Bankman-Fried’s swift fall, stepped in.