Binance's Claim to Compete with Ripple and Solana by Investing

YZi Labs, Binance's former venture arm, led a strategic investment round of $25.5 million for Sign, a company developing digital infrastructure. This investment round stands out as a significant development in the sector. IDG Capital also participated in the funding round. Sign had previously raised $16 million from YZi Labs in January. This marks YZi’s first investment since separating from Binance and turning into the family office of former CEO Changpeng Zhao.

Sign has raised over $55 million to date through seed, Series A, and strategic rounds. Sign CEO Xin Yan stated that a large portion of the new funds would be used to grow their technology team and establish country-based local teams. Yan said, "We are looking for top talent in areas like Hyperledger Fabric, zero-knowledge proof, and cross-chain interoperability." Additionally, he noted that the capital would be used to enhance sovereign blockchain collaborations with countries: "The crypto sector is rich in technology but poor in adoption. It’s time to accelerate the adoption of crypto by working directly with countries."

Sign is currently working with Thailand and South Korea and is in discussions with several technology countries in Central Asia and the Middle East. Yan stated, "We want to implement new technologies at a national level and believe we will act before competitors like Ripple or Solana." Furthermore, Sign has launched a buyback program for its local token SIGN through both open market purchases and private agreements. The company's priority will be to develop national-level digital currency projects and continue growing on the infrastructure side.