Woofun AI reports that Binance Labs officially rebranded to YZi Labs in January 2025, marking a strategic pivot led by Ella Zhang to manage a capital pool derived from the personal wealth of Zhao Changpeng and He Yi. This transformation distinguishes the new entity from the original investment department of Binance, establishing a distinct operational identity rooted in the initials of its two co-founders. The rebranding signals a shift from a standard incubation arm to a sophisticated capital platform that reportedly oversees more than $10 billion in assets. This massive fund spans over 300 projects across 25 countries and six continents, extending its reach far beyond the traditional crypto sector into AI, robotics, and biotechnology. The emergence of YZi Labs represents a new species in the family office industry, combining the foundational stability of a family office with the aggressive methodology of a venture capital firm and the ecological leverage of an industrial platform.

The identity of YZi Labs has been characterized by a notable ambiguity regarding its classification, creating a unique hybrid model that defies standard industry frameworks. Initially, Ella Zhang described the entity in media interviews as purely a 'family office investment tool,' yet this definition was quickly contested by an official statement clarifying that it is not a family office but a venture capital and incubation company dedicated to promoting innovation. This statement specifically emphasized that He Yi does not participate in daily operations, despite her significant ownership stake. The institution effectively operates as a trinity: it possesses the foundation of a family office with funding sourced from the entrepreneurial returns of Zhao Changpeng, He Yi, and early core executives of Binance, meaning it raises no external funds and faces no LP pressure. Simultaneously, it employs a VC methodology with a professional team led by Ella Zhang and an investment committee including Zhao Changpeng, deploying capital ranging from $500,000 to $50 million across seed to growth stages, with the largest single project investment reaching $52 million.

Furthermore, it leverages the industrial platform of Binance, providing invested projects with traffic, technical integration, and user cold-start support, a capability absent in traditional family offices or purely financial VCs.

Woofun AI data shows that YZi Labs manages a $10 billion asset base with a team of only 12 people, resulting in an average managed asset per person exceeding $800 million, a ratio that is extremely rare in the global family office industry. According to disclosures made by Ella Zhang in 2025 and at the Consensus conference in Hong Kong in 2026, the asset allocation follows a rough '70-30' split, where about 70% remains in digital assets including token holdings and on-chain protocol positions, while the remaining 30% expands into non-crypto fields such as AI, biotechnology, and robotics. The challenge of managing this massive fund lies not in the number of projects but in the continuous discovery of high-quality assets that meet strict standards. A critical aspect of this strategy is the attitude toward exits; in 2022, the predecessor Binance Labs accepted about $300 million in external investment but later returned most of the funds to LPs because the 'ultra-long-term' holding strategy lacked the exit windows that external investors required. Unlike other VCs that calculate investment return multiples annually, YZi Labs prioritizes long-term value creation, a logic that made external capital untenable. While the entity is considering reopening to external investors in the future, Ella Zhang emphasized that this will not happen in the short term as the firm remains in a 'learning phase' regarding AI and biotechnology sectors.

The investment layout of YZi Labs is structured into three distinct tracks, with the first track focusing on the crypto ecosystem to maintain the health of the BNB ecosystem through strategic financial allocations. In October 2025, YZi Labs announced the establishment of a $1 billion Builder Fund specifically designed to support long-term builders on the BNB Chain, covering areas such as DeFi, AI, RWA, DeSci, payments, and wallets, where selected projects can receive up to $500,000 in funding and access resources from Binance's core team. Beyond direct funding, YZi Labs undertook an aggressive move to promote the U.S. stock listing of a BNB 'token treasury company,' supporting 10X Capital in July 2025 to establish the BNB Treasury Company and seek a Nasdaq listing, aiming to allow U.S. investors compliant exposure to BNB through traditional stock channels. Shortly thereafter, another entity, BNC, a subsidiary of CEA Industries, completed financing in a $500 million private placement led by YZi Labs and 10X Capital, purchasing 200,000 BNB to become the world's largest public holder of BNB.

However, this path encountered significant friction; in January 2026, YZi Labs publicly accused BNC's management of deviating from the initial commitments of the BNB treasury, leading to an intense proxy battle over governance rights and investment strategies, illustrating that even investments within Zhao Changpeng's system are not monolithic.

The second track of investment focuses on AI and robotics, representing the boldest new bet for the firm, exemplified by the March 2026 announcement where YZi Labs led a $52 million financing round for the Silicon Valley AI robotics company RoboForce. The TITAN robot developed by RoboForce specifically addresses labor shortages in industrial scenarios such as solar energy, data centers, mining, and manufacturing, a direction that Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang highlighted at the GTC 2025 conference. Following the completion of this investment, Ella Zhang personally joined the board of RoboForce to guide its strategic direction. The EASY Residency second season incubation project further demonstrated this commitment by including AI hard tech projects such as Trellis Robotics, a soft robot created by a Stanford team, and 4D Labs, which focuses on spatial intelligence large models, indicating a layout that aims to establish deep connections with founders in cutting-edge fields rather than just financial investments. Market speculation has also been sparked by investments in Chinese AI companies; during the 2026 Hong Kong Web3 Carnival, He Yi revealed that YZi Labs has invested in 'an AI company founded by a Chinese entrepreneur,' with initial speculation pointing to Kimi's parent company, The Dark Side of the Moon, given that Zhao Changpeng had publicly praised Kimi on social media and former YZi Labs investment partner Dana frequently interacted with executives from The Dark Side of the Moon after leaving. Although He Yi later downplayed the related statements, the signal that YZi Labs is beginning to pay attention to Chinese AI startups is sufficient to attract market attention.

Biotechnology represents the third track, described by Ella Zhang as 'an exponential opportunity to extend human capabilities,' though the firm acknowledges it is still in the early learning stage in this field and is in the process of assembling a professional team. While the EASY Residency project has already included biotechnology entrepreneurs, there has been no public disclosure of large biotechnology investments yet, meaning that biotechnology is more of a 'long-term layout' for YZi Labs rather than a current focus. Ella Zhang uses the 'barbell strategy' to summarize the allocation logic of these three tracks: crypto is on one end, being cyclical and highly volatile; AI is a certain trend; and biotechnology is on the other end, being the longest time frame but with the highest potential returns. The combination of these three forms an investment portfolio that spans different time scales, allowing the firm to balance immediate volatility with long-term exponential growth potential. This strategic diversification ensures that the firm is not overly exposed to the cyclical nature of any single sector while maintaining a strong industrial betting attribute.

Beyond direct investments, a core action of YZi Labs is incubation through its flagship project, EASY Residency, a name that hides a twist as the official pronunciation of 'YZi' is 'EASY,' implying that 'the founder's journey is never easy.' This program evolved from the Binance Labs incubation program seven years ago but has made significant upgrades in its model, moving away from traditional online Demo Day-style accelerators to require entrepreneurs to concentrate on-site and co-build in an immersive project. Selected projects can receive a $150,000 SAFE investment in exchange for 5% equity, plus up to $350,000 in additional investment totaling up to $500,000, along with housing subsidies, free quotas from infrastructure partners like AWS, a $1 million security audit fund provided by CertiK, and regular mentorship from Zhao Changpeng, He Yi, and even Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin. In 2025, EASY Residency completed two seasons of incubation, with the first season operating in New York and the second season expanding to four cities: New York, San Francisco, Dubai, and Singapore. The Demo Day for the second season was held during Binance Blockchain Week, revealing selected projects covering various tracks such as prediction markets (Predict.fun), the Stanford robotics team (Trellis Robotics), and spatial intelligence (4D Labs). Entering 2026, EASY Residency made significant adjustments, shifting from a fixed batch 'quarterly model' to rolling admissions year-round, establishing permanent centers in New York and the San Francisco Bay Area, with three global Demo Days planned for the year—one in April (Dubai TOKEN2049), and others in August and December. This transition from a 'project-based' to a 'platform-based' approach addresses the pain point of traditional accelerators where 'connections end after the batch' and attempts to build a continuously operating founder community.

To understand the operational logic of YZi Labs, it is essential to clarify the division of labor among three core figures who define the internal power dynamics of the organization. Zhao Changpeng serves as the source of capital and reputation, acting as the anchor of funds and the source of industry influence for YZi Labs as the founder and largest shareholder of Binance. He serves as a member of the investment committee, participating in mentorship with an 'intern mentality,' a description that conceals substantial decision-making power; he does not sign checks, but his judgments shape the investment direction, particularly the focus on AI and robotics, which is reportedly driven by his personal technical preferences. He Yi holds about 10% of Binance's shares and is another crucial owner in the wealth pool, with the official statement that she 'does not participate in daily operations,' yet as the current co-CEO of Binance, her influence within the ecosystem is a latent resource for YZi Labs. Zhao Changpeng and He Yi are long-term partners raising three children together, meaning the 'family' attribute is a real power and interest structure. Ella Zhang acts as the actual operator and daily captain, having co-founded the early structure of Binance Labs with Zhao Changpeng in 2018 and investing in representative projects such as Polygon, CertiK, and Injective. Her background from Stanford Business School and Kleiner Perkins (KPCB), where she participated in early investments in Chinese consumer internet projects like JD.com and Himalaya, combined with her experience founding Trendsi and completing a $25 million Series A financing, allows her to play an irreplaceable bridging role. In early 2025, Zhao Changpeng and He Yi invited her back to lead YZi Labs, leveraging her dual background in entrepreneurial experience and traditional VC training to facilitate the transition from a crypto investment institution to a cross-domain capital platform.

The significance of YZi Labs for the family office industry lies not in the scale of its assets but in its representation of a new form of family office that challenges classic frameworks of asset preservation, intergenerational inheritance, tax structures, and diversified allocations. When the founder's wealth comes from highly technical, volatile, and high-network-effect emerging industries, their 'family office' may not necessarily follow a traditional conservative allocation but may continue to maintain a strong industrial betting attribute. The core capability of such family offices is not how sophisticated their asset allocation models are, but whether the founder's industrial judgment can extend into the next technological cycle, meaning their competitiveness comes from the courage and judgment to concentrate bets rather than diversifying risks. Another dimension worth observing is how YZi Labs handles the tension between 'founders exiting daily operations' and 'maintaining industrial influence,' as Zhao Changpeng no longer manages Binance but remains deeply embedded in the capital flow and entrepreneur network of the Web3 ecosystem through YZi Labs. This transition from 'running a business' to 'doing capital' serves as a highly valuable reference case for many families experiencing generational transitions or founder retirements.

However, the firm faces unverified risks, including the fact that 70% of its assets are still concentrated in the digital asset field, which is greatly affected by industry cycles, and the question of whether managing $10 billion with a 12-person team provides sufficient organizational bandwidth to support multi-track layouts. These variables, along with potential tail risks from policy cycles and market sentiments, must be continuously tracked when observing the future direction of this institution. From Binance Labs to YZi Labs, the change is not just a name but a 'reorganization' that the first generation of entrepreneurial wealth in the crypto industry is undergoing, as this new wealth from exchanges and token economies settles and attempts to reorganize into a more long-term, cross-domain, and family capital-like platform form. As noted by Foinsight Family Office Insights, Zhao Changpeng's post-Binance era is just beginning on the capital level, addressing the timely question of how new wealth accumulated from high-volatility industries should continue to exist after the founder leaves the front line of the business.