Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao’s plan to rescue the cryptocurrency market has faced setbacks, with the Industry Recovery Initiative (IRI) falling short of expectations, according to Bloomberg. The initiative, which aimed to raise $1 billion to support struggling startups within the ecosystem, has so far only utilized less than $15 million of the fund.
Last year, the cryptocurrency market suffered major declines, particularly due to the collapse of the Terra Network and the FTX cryptocurrency exchange. This had a ripple effect on asset prices and exposed firms that were associated with FTX. In an effort to address the situation, Zhao announced the IRI and garnered support from prominent industry players such as Jump Crypto and Animoca Brands.
However, Binance’s actual investment has been minimal, with only $15 million being spent and the remaining $985 million transferred to the corporate treasury. Binance has applied the rescue fund to 14 projects, but details about 13 of them have not been disclosed. The only publicly announced funding is for Gopax, a South Korean cryptocurrency exchange.
