YZi Labs, the venture capital firm founded by Binance co-founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, has announced a massive $1 billion fund to accelerate growth within the BNB ecosystem as the token reaches new all-time highs.
Revealed on Wednesday, the $1 billion Builder Fund aims to empower founders building on the BNB Chain and strengthen the network’s expanding ecosystem.
“The BNB ecosystem represents the next phase of digital infrastructure, where decentralization and on-chain scalability converge with security and real distribution,” said Ella Zhang, head of YZi Labs.
The announcement follows BNB’s recent surge, which pushed it to become the third-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization on Tuesday, adding over $40 billion in value in October alone.
Longtime backer of the BNB ecosystem
Formerly known as Binance Labs, YZi Labs has long supported the BNB ecosystem, having funded key projects such as the decentralized exchange PancakeSwap. The firm has also invested in ListaDAO, a DeFi protocol on BNB Chain; Aspecta (ASP), a blockchain infrastructure project; and Aster, a multichain DEX recently delisted from DefiLlama.
YZi Labs, the venture capital firm founded by Binance co-founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, is expanding its push into the BNB ecosystem with a $1 billion fund aimed at accelerating innovation across multiple sectors — just as BNB hits record highs.
Driving institutional BNB adoption
Beyond startup funding, YZi Labs has been promoting institutional participation in the BNB ecosystem through initiatives such as the BNB Digital Asset Treasury (DAT), the real-world asset (RWA) fund by China Renaissance, and the BNB Yield Fund by Hash Global.
$1 billion for next-gen builders
According to YZi Labs head Ella Zhang, the new $1 billion Builder Fund will back projects across DeFi, RWA, artificial intelligence (AI), decentralized science (DeSci), as well as BNB Chain-based payments and wallet solutions.
Under the initiative, BNB Chain’s Most Valuable Builder (MVB) accelerator will now operate within YZi Labs’ Easy Residency global incubation program as a dedicated track for BNB founders. Together, MVB and Easy Residency will offer up to $500,000 in funding, along with direct access to YZi Labs and BNB Chain teams, plus mentorship and investor connections.
“We’re looking for early-stage founders building with long-term conviction, strong execution, and clear product-market alignment,” a YZi spokesperson told Cointelegraph, noting that capital deployment will begin immediately.
CZ’s fortune grows alongside BNB’s surge
While YZi Labs manages more than $10 billion in assets as a global venture platform, Bloomberg previously reported that the firm also oversees billions belonging to Binance co-founders CZ and Yi He.
Although YZi denied operating as a family office earlier this year, Zhang was previously quoted as describing it as “a purely family office investment vehicle.” A YZi spokesperson clarified to Cointelegraph that while the capital originates from CZ, the firm’s structure and operations “differ from a traditional family office,” emphasizing its investment and incubation focus.
Amid BNB’s rally to all-time highs above $1,300, CZ’s personal wealth tied to his BNB holdings has soared. With BNB’s market capitalization hitting $182 billion on Tuesday, CZ’s estimated stake — around 64% of the BNB supply as of mid-2024 — could now be worth roughly $116 billion.
CZ is far from being the only one that profited from BNB’s market surge. According to the onchain analytics platform Bubblemaps, at least 70% of BNB Chain traders are currently in profit, with 40 traders each earning $1 million.
