Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by volume, is finishing off 2018 with a slew of expansions, large and small. On Thursday, the exchange announced that its venture wing, Binance Labs, would be expanding its startup incubator to five new cities; earlier this week, the exchange launched the full version of the “Binance Academy,” an education platform in 15 languages.
Binance Labs to Open Incubator Programs in Berlin, Buenos Aires, Lagos, Singapore, and Hong Kong in March
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Binance Labs is offering blockchain startups a 10-week onsite program to develop their technology and business strategy in five new cities in conjunction with the ending of the inaugural incubator program in San Francisco. Additionally, each of the new programs will conclude with a three-week-long trip to Singapore and a ‘demo day’ where each of the projects will have the opportunity to showcase themselves.
One reason for the expansion could be the high demand for participation in the San Francisco program. Eight teams were chosen from a pool of more than 500 applicants to the program; the chosen few also received $500,000 to assist in business development. The San Francisco program is scheduled to run two more times next year, although the application period for those programs has not yet begun.
JUST IN: Binance is expanding its venture wing to five new cities as part of a global expansion. https://t.co/YQfVbyAEKP
— CoinDesk (@coindesk) December 13, 2018
The trading pairs include BTC/USDC, ETH/USDC, BNB/USDC, XLM/USDC, EOS/USDC, and XRP/USDC. Binance has also paired USDC against USDT (Tether dollars), presumably to make it easier for users to switch between the two stablecoins.