Why would Temasek's Vertex Ventures invests in a cryptocurrency exchange like Binance?

Hey there, I'm by no means an expert, but here are some of my guesses why:

1. Long-term growth of cryptocurrency / digital assets markets

• "Sovereign funds" are normally cautious in investing in such controversial areas like cryptocurrencies, so to see such a deal, I'd assume a ton of due diligence and considerations were made. Hence, it is unlikely this deal is made out of FOMO or blind-optimism that characterised the Bitcoin boom.
• I think this signals that Temasek sees long-term growth of the cryptocurrency / digital assets market. As to why there is going to be long-term growth, I think there are many different perspectives out there and it's probably not that relevant in this question.

2. Picking the winner(s)

• If I were an investor and I identified a market poised for growth. Who do I pick? Of course, the ones that can capture the greatest value in the market, and hopefully they'll be the winners.

A. Importance in the ecosystem

• A digital assets exchange serves as the central point in the digital assets ecosystem. More often than not, it is the first entry point into digital assets for many. In fact, due to the lack of use-cases other than speculating & trading, most digital assets remain in the custody of these exchanges. And yeah of course, to support the trading and speculation of digital assets, these exchanges are essential to the ecosystem.

B. Business Model

• That doesn't stop there, a digital assets exchange is able to capture great value coming in and out of these billions of dollars of trades everyday. By earning transaction fees for facilitating transactions and keeping our digital assets safe, an exchange makes A LOT of money.
• If that's true about a digital exchange, what about one of the top (i.e. Binance)? C. Great team & execution
• Despite being founded very recently (14 months ago, if I'm not wrong), Binance has made its way to the top of the exchanges. Despite their impact and scale of transactions, their headcount is known to be very lean and small as compared to their peers.

D. Clout & ability to shape a nascent ecosystem

• With all they've achieved, they have become like a 老大 in the industry, meaning when Binance does or says something, the industry listens and mostly follows. While it is hard to out a dollar value on clout, I think it cannot be underestimated (Just look at Apple leading the & shaping the industry: iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, no headphone jack, and of course the notch)
• With their influence, monetary resources, and domain expertise, they've also begun investing into the ecosystem, to help it to grow. Of course, everyone wants Binance's advice & support! Selfishly, I think this gives them first dibs on the next tech innovation, so they can remain relevant and create new products to outlast any new wave of innovation. Altruistically, the industry will continue to move in the right direction under the Binance banner, spreading utility of digital assets globally (And who's the central point of this ecosystem? :))

So, in conclusion, I think the investment can be boiled down to:

1. Long-term growth of the digital assets market
2. Picking the winner(s)
3. Importance in the ecosystem
4. Business Model
5. Great team & execution
6. Clout & ability to shape a nascent ecosystem.

The best case scenario? In the long run, Vertex invests in a 老大 that makes very good money, is not easily replaced, and can shape the industry in all ways for a very long time.

The worst case? Binance fails after a few years, but Vertex has the 老大's connections, expertise & reach to learn and understand the entire digital assets industry in that few years.

Doesn't seem so bad to me!