Aug 3, 2020 at 08:07 UTC Updated Aug 3, 2020 at 08:12 UTC
Huobi CEO Leon Li (CoinDesk archives) Huobi Hires Former Banking Giant Executive to Lead New DeFi Fund
Crypto exchange operator Huobi Group is forming a new fund to invest tens of millions of dollars of its own capital in the decentralized finance (DeFi) space.Huobi Group said in an announcement Monday it has launched a new business unit called Huobi DeFi Labs to manage the new fund.DeFi Labs, which initially comprises of four staff, will focus on research, investment and incubation of DeFi-related projects.The exchange recently hired former banker Sharlyn Wu as its chief investment officer to lead the initiative.Previously, Wu spent three years leading the blockchain investment arm at China Merchant Bank International (CMBI), the overseas branch of one of the biggest banks in China.During Wu’s term, the CMBI invested in several crypto and blockchain firms, including wallet startup Bitpie, crypto exchange Bibox and public blockchain project Nervos.
“It is exciting to see the power of the permissionless economy unleashed at global scale,” Wu said.“However, there are still many problems to be solved at the theoretical and technical levels.” The new fund comes at a time crypto VCs are upping their investments in DeFi-related protocols.Last week, Injective Protocol announced the raise of $2.6 million led by Pantera, while Polychain and Three Arrows backed another DeFi protocol, KeeperDao, in a seven-figure seed round.
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