Cryptocurrency exchange Binance announced recently that it was committing $1 billion to establish an industry recovery initiative (IRI) to invest in companies from the digital assets sector.

The move comes at a time when the crypto market is teetering from the collapse of FTX, which is seeking Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the United States.

Concerns about the industry’s ability to continue attracting investments from major venture capital and private equity firms have also been stoked by the collapse of one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world.

Binance noted that it intends to ramp up its commitment amount to $2 billion in the near future depending on need.

The crypto exchange said in a statement, “We anticipate this initiative will last about six months and will be flexible on the investment structure — token, fiat, equity, convertible instruments, debt, credit lines, etc.”

A Binance spokesperson also stated, “Each investment opportunity will be reviewed on its own merits by each (industry recovery initiative) participant acting on its own behalf, including appropriate legal assessments.” 

Following the demise of rival FTX, Zhao stated last week at a conference in Abu Dhabi that there was much interest from industry leaders in a recovery fund his company planned to form to assist cryptocurrency ventures facing a liquidity crunch.

He said that such a fund would help reduce further cascading negative effects of FTX without giving an exact figure for the fund.

Several crypto firms have been bracing for the fallout from the FTX collapse, with many counting their exposure in millions to the beleaguered exchange.