Binance Labs Discusses Crypto at Harvard and Columbia Universities

Binance Labs, the exchange‘s investment arm, held discussions at Harvard and Columbia Universities about developing a product for your market, fundraising, and building blockchain and cryptocurrency startups. More broadly, “State of Blockchain: A Chat With Binance Labs,” aimed to promote blockchain technology across different industries.

What Is Binance Labs?

Binance operates the world’s largest Bitcoin and altcoin exchange in terms of volume. It also has its own cryptocurrency, Binance Coin (BNB).

Binance Labs is a little different. Specifically, it’s the crypto exchange’s investment arm.

The company works to incubate, invest, and empower communities, businesses, and individuals through the use of blockchain. They work with entrepreneurs, lead projects, make direct investments, and collaborate with other partners in the industry. They work to support entrepreneurs in the following sectors: funding, go-to-market strategy & BD, token models & distributions, technical review, and recruiting.

Regarding investment, their areas of interest include public blockchains, decentralized exchanges, wallets, stablecoins, ATS/security token platforms, and dApps. These areas span across countless industries and initiatives. They’ve also launched other projects such as the Cryptocurrency Governance Initiative and their Ecosystem Fund.

Overall, Binance Labs is working to make blockchain more accessible with education and capital.

Presentations at Harvard and Columbia

During their visits to Columbia and Harvard, the Blockchain Labs team covered many topics surrounding blockchain technology.

Company head Ella Zhang, Partner Teck Chia, Director Ling Zhang, and Researcher Charles Lu made up the team of speakers. They discussed how VCs are investing in ICOs, stablecoins, blockchain security. Additionally, they covered the difference between a VC and a cryptocurrency investor.

Ella Zhang shared her story about her transition from VC at Kleiner Perkins to her current position. She spoke to her excitement about “the democratization of everything” through emerging tech such as ICOs and why this excites her. Some of the Labs’ portfolio companies also spoke about their experiences in blockchain startups.

The Biance Labs portfolio includes Oasis Labs, CertiK, MobileCoin, Trust Wallet, Cocos Blockchain Expedition, Cred, Pivot, Contentos, FanX, Basis, Terra, Republic, and Koi Trading.

Today, more than 18% of college students own cryptocurrency and blockchain business schools are increasingly popular. This presentation gave students insight into the world of blockchain beyond the classroom.