Crypto Giant Binance Scoops Up $2B From Abu Dhabi’s MGX

Cryptocurrency exchange Binance received a massive $2 billion investment from Abu Dhabi-based investment firm MGX.

The deal is the single largest investment into a crypto company, beating out FTX’s $1 billion Series B and NYDIG’s $1 billion private equity round in 2021 — raised during the salad days of both venture and crypto.

The round is also the largest investment ever paid in crypto (stablecoin, per the release).

“This investment by MGX is a significant milestone for the crypto industry and for Binance,” said company CEO Richard Teng. “Together, we are shaping the future of digital finance. Our goal is to build a more inclusive and sustainable ecosystem, with a strong focus on compliance, security, and user protection.”

The deal is just the most recent big splash made by MGX. The firm plans to contribute about $7 billion to the new Stargate Project. The project is anticipated to help build out $100 billion to $500 billion in AI datacenters and infrastructure.

The firm also took part in the largest round of 2024 — Databricks’ $10 billion raise at a $62 billion valuation — as well as xAI’s $6 billion funding round valuing it at $50 billion, and OpenAI’s $6.6 billion raise at a post-money valuation of $157 billion.

Crypto resurgence

Many are expecting a crypto resurgence thanks in part to the new administration in the White House. Just last week President Donald Trump signed an executive order establishing a U.S. strategic bitcoin reserve, and most expect regulation in the crypto industry to drop substantially.

That could help venture funding in the sector, which has somewhat flattened recently. Last year, $8.5 billion was invested into the Web3 industry — defined as crypto and blockchain — a similar dollar amount to the $8.2 billion invested in 2023, per Crunchbase data.

Related Crunchbase Pro query:

• Funding To VC-Backed Web3 Startups

Related reading:

• MGX’s AI Role In The US Grows

Illustration: Dom Guzman