Binance receives numerous deal proposals amid market downturn, CEO Zhao says

CORRECTION (7:00 p.m. EST): This report originally misquoted Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao as to the number of pitches Binance has received. The Block regrets the error.

Binance is examining dozens of proposals from crypto companies amid the recent market stress, CEO Changpeng Zhao said.

In a Friday interview with Yahoo Finance, Zhao added that Binance was actively looking for ways to help struggling crypto companies, either through loans, minority investments or majority acquisitions.

“We definitely look at all of that. We’re looking at [five to one hundred] deals,” Zhao said. “Everyone knows we have the largest cash reserve in the industry. Everyone’s talking to us.”

The company has already agreed on some deals, he said, while adding that Binance would only announce agreements with large companies, citing the privacy of smaller firms. “If the projects can recover on their own, just taking loans or minority investment ... we don’t need to advertise that they’re close to bankruptcy.”

The market downturn has put pressure on many crypto firms. Some companies, including CoinFLEX and Babel Finance have suspended withdrawals, citing “extreme market conditions” and “unusual liquidity pressure,” respectively. Some firms have been forced to dismiss workers and others have declared insolvency.

Zhao highlighted the importance of clear regulatory guidelines for different types of crypto businesses. The guidelines should lay out “the amount of required transparency in disclosure,” because some companies stopped communicating with investors when things went bad, he said.