Binance is joining the ranks of Ribbit Capital, Union Square Ventures and Marc Andreessen as backers of Multicoin Capital, a cryptocurrency investment firm based in Austin, Texas.

It's the first such investment for the global crypto exchange, which has previously backed early-stage projects through its Binance Labs venture arm. The amount of the investment was not disclosed.

"We have worked with Multicoin Capital on several occasions, mainly to identify, incubate and invest in several early-stage blockchain projects," Binance wrote in a blog post published Tuesday. "With this new investment, we affirm our conviction in Multicoin's process and expertise as fund managers."

A spokesman for Multicoin said Binance is joining an open-end hedge fund. The firm most recently revealed a sizable bet on THORChain's RUNE token.

"We have invested thousands of hours researching Binance and can say unequivocally that it is one of the most strategically important infrastructure providers in the blockchain ecosystem," Multicoin Capital managing partner Tushar Jain said in a statement. "This investment represents a major vote of confidence for our firm and a significant responsibility that we are prepared to take on."