The industry shock caused by the collapse of FTX has not subsided with the passage of time. As FTX's biggest competitor, Binance has been discussed in a delicate position by public opinion before and after the FTX incident. Although Binance has become the mainstay of the reconstruction market, many people still believe that Binance played a certain "disgraceful" role in the collapse of FTX.

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"Bad guy Zhao Changpeng"

Before the collapse of FTX, there were rumors that SBF lobbied the US government against Binance. CZ then sold FTT to "go to war with SBF" and "destroyed FTX with a tweet" when FTX was on the verge of bankruptcy.

In November, Anthony Scaramucci, founder of the hedge fund SkyBridge, said at a Bloomberg event that SBF had fiercely criticized Binance founder CZ in a meeting with many high-net-worth tycoons in the Middle East, and even said a lot of trash talk. Anthony believes that this trip to the Middle East and SBF's trash talk played a decisive role in the FTX bankruptcy.

In response to these claims, Zhao Changpeng tweeted yesterday, "A tweet can't destroy any healthy business. However, data shows that Caroline Ellison, former CEO of Alameda Research, is willing to buy FTT that Binance plans to sell at $22. It may be the real reason why people are abandoning FTT. SBF continues a narrative that portrays me and others as bad guys. SBF is one of the biggest liars in history, and he is also a master of manipulation when it comes to the media and key opinion leaders."

Zhao Changpeng also said, "We don't pay attention to competitors because it's a waste of time and resources when the industry only touches 6% of the population. We hope that multiple exchanges, blockchains, wallets, etc. will coexist in the ecosystem."

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"Timely Rain Zhao Changpeng"

In any case, Binance has indeed played the role of "timely rain" in the "post-disaster reconstruction" of the crypto industry. The turmoil brought by FTX will obviously continue for quite a long time, and how to restore market confidence after the turmoil has become an issue of concern in the industry.

Last month, Binance announced the Industry Recovery Initiative (IRI). Specifically, the IRI is a fund that will support crypto projects facing liquidity issues due to the FTX collapse.

Specifically, Binance announced a $2 billion industry recovery fund that will be used to buy distressed crypto assets and support crypto projects in crisis. According to Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ), the idea to create such a fund came about after the catastrophic collapse of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange, which left several crypto companies reeling. But Zhao said in a Dec. 6 tweet that “cryptocurrency does not need saving and is thriving just fine, that’s the beauty of decentralization. We’re just a part of it. We want to help other good projects that may be in a cash crunch due to recent events. This is in our collective best interest.”

No matter how Zhao Changpeng clarifies, Binance does seem to be becoming the "savior" of the crypto industry. In its official announcement, Binance stated, "As a leader in the crypto field, we have a responsibility to take the lead in protecting consumers and rebuilding the industry." In addition to financial assistance, Binance will also provide guidance to affected companies in technical execution, fundraising, and other aspects.

IRI’s primary goal is to support promising projects currently facing significant short-term financial difficulties. If the fund is successful, its unique collaborative approach to rescuing troubled crypto companies should also help restore confidence in the web3 industry.

Binance donated $2 billion to the fund in two installments. The contribution was made in the form of BUSD, stored at the following public address: 0x043a80999cEe3711D372FB878768909fbE7F71E6. The fund was opened to the public and donations began to flow in. Anyone can donate to IRI, and donations can be in stablecoins or any other token - this is entirely at the discretion of each participant.

Binance has received more than 150 applications from companies seeking support for the Industry Recovery Initiative. All those who contribute to the fund will be allowed to review the applications and make investment decisions independently. The program is expected to run for six months, after which participants can withdraw any remaining unused funds from the public address.

The recovery fund initiative has attracted some big names in the industry. For example, the initiative has the backing and support of Tron founder Justin Sun. Simon Dixon, one of the top investors in the recently collapsed Celsius Network, has also come out in support of the initiative and is interested in donating to the fund.

Binance also announced that platforms such as Polygon Ventures, Aptos Labs, Animoca Brands, Kronos, GSR, Jump Crypto and Brooker Group have donated a total of US$50 million, and more donations are expected soon.

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There is still a long way to go for industry recovery

Following Binance, another popular cryptocurrency exchange Bybit has set up a $100 million recovery fund to provide financial assistance to institutional clients in times of crisis like this. Under this initiative, the exchange will provide up to $10 million each to new and existing market makers operating on its platform.

Similarly, OKX plans to launch a $100 million recovery plan. The exchange said it will provide liquidity and technical support to promising projects when needed to help keep some projects running.

BlockFi, another major victim of the FTX collapse, has filed for bankruptcy. Another cryptocurrency exchange, Gemini, is also in trouble and will collapse if it cannot raise funds quickly. Therefore, the consequences of the FTX collapse have affected several projects and created a huge liquidity dilemma.#BTC #ETH