Binance Labs undergoes a name change, now known as YZi Labs.
**YZi Labs: Expanding Horizons in Web3 and Beyond**
After rebranding from Binance Labs in 2025, YZi Labs has emerged as a prominent venture capital firm, retaining Binance's aggressive investment strategy while focusing on independent, cross-border ventures.
**Recent Developments and Investments**
One of YZi Labs' most significant recent moves is their backing of 10X Capital, a US-based company aiming to become the first pure-play BNB treasury, enabling traditional public market investors in the US to gain regulated exposure to BNB, the native token of the BNB Chain. This move aligns with growing institutional demand for transparent, verifiable digital asset custody.
Another notable investment is in OneKey, a fully open-source hardware wallet company, at a $150 million valuation. This investment underscores YZi Labs' commitment to bridging decentralized finance (DeFi) with secure, user-controlled asset storage.
**Focus Areas**
YZi Labs has a broad investment focus, with a keen interest in AI-powered blockchain applications, user experiences, and analytics. While details about specific biotech involvement are not readily available, their core focus remains AI x Web3, which could potentially include applications in computational biology or biotech-adjacent fields.
The firm continues to invest heavily in gaming and asset tokenization (GameFi) and projects that tokenize real-world assets. They also maintain a strong presence in decentralized finance (DeFi), exemplified by their backing of MakerDAO, DODO, and innovative wallet solutions like OneKey.
**Portfolio and Reach**
With approximately $10 billion in assets under management and a portfolio spanning over 300 projects across 25+ countries, YZi Labs is a significant player in the Web3 ecosystem. Their notable investments include 1inch, Amber Group, MakerDAO, Trust Wallet, Dune Analytics, and multiple Binance Launchpad tokens.
**Leadership and Strategy**
Ella Zhang, the first chief executive of Binance Labs, has returned to head YZi Labs. During her tenure, she backed over 40 startups, including Polygon, Injective Protocol, CertiK, Dune Analytics, Kava, SafePal, Elrond, and Nym. CZ (Changpeng Zhao), founder and CEO of Binance, will continue to play a key role in YZi Labs' investment activities.
The rebranding of Binance Labs to YZi Labs signifies a step towards independence for the organization, as CZ has distanced himself from Binance, allowing YZi Labs to take the next step independently. This move is indicative of CZ's renewed desire to participate personally in the initiative, with a focus on expanding the vision to include sectors like artificial intelligence and biotech.
In conclusion, YZi Labs has rapidly established itself as a leading Web3 venture capital firm, with a clear focus on AI-driven blockchain applications, regulated crypto access vehicles, and secure DeFi infrastructure. Their latest headline deals—the BNB Treasury Company and the OneKey hardware wallet—demonstrate both strategic ambition and operational scale. While their investment thesis is expansive, biotech does not currently feature among their announced focus areas.
In the journey of expanding horizons beyond Web3, YZi Labs envisions integrating artificial intelligence with their blockchain applications, potentially venturing into computational biology or biotech-adjacent fields. The firm's interests also extend to health-and-wellness technology, as they are committed to bridging decentralized finance (DeFi) with secure, user-controlled asset storage solutions, such as the OneKey hardware wallet.
