Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, on Thursday announced the launch of a recovery initiative for the crypto industry, through which the exchange and other participants will evaluate investment opportunities in companies and projects that are facing significant short-term difficulties.

Officially called the “Industry Recovery Initiative”, the programme will allow Binance and other interested parties – with pre-existing capital commitments – to access investment opportunities that come through its application process, Binance said in a statement.

Binance said it will initially commit $1 billion to investment opportunities under the initiative, with scope to raise the amount to $2 billion, should the need arise.

Binance said the initiative has already received around 150 applications from companies seeking support.

Participants in the initiative will be required to disclose their capital commitments via public addresses in the interest of transparency.

The initiative is also open to traditional financial institutions that may not be able to send money to public addresses, and the initiative will last about six months.

Participants that have already committed to participating in the scheme are Jump Crypto, Polygon Ventures, Aptos Labs, Animoca Brands, GSR, Kronos, and Brooker Group, with an aggregate commitment of $50 million.

“Collectively, we will be looking for projects characterized by 1) innovation and long-term value creation, 2) a clearly delineated and viable business model, and 3) a laser focus on risk management,” Binance said.

“Aside from funding support, we plan to provide founders and projects with comprehensive support – from formation, technical execution, fundraising, and more – so that they can emerge and grow stronger from the crypto winter,” it added.

Binance is the world’s leading blockchain ecosystem and cryptocurrency infrastructure provider with a financial product suite that includes the largest digital asset exchange by volume.

Trusted by millions worldwide, the firm is commited to increasing financial freedom for users, and features an unmatched portfolio of crypto products and offerings, including: crypto spot trading, education, data and research, decentralization and infrastructure solutions, and more.

Binance Labs closes $500M investment fund to boost blockchain, Web3, and value-building technologies