CZ's YZi Labs Announces Billion Fund to Support BNB Chain Developers

BNB hit a new all-time high of $1,336, marking a record high for the cryptocurrency. Following this success, YZi Labs, the venture capital firm founded by Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, announced a billion-dollar fund to support developers building projects within the BNB ecosystem.

Expanding Support for BNB Builders

Formerly known as Binance Labs, YZi Labs said the fund aims to deepen its commitment to the growth of projects built on BNB Chain, with a focus on long-term innovation. The initiative targets emerging sectors such as “trading, RWA, AI, DeSci, DeFi, Payments, Wallets — leveraging BNB Chain's high-performance, low-cost infrastructure as well as enhanced tools, funding, integrations and a user ecosystem of over 460 million. »

A central feature of this plan is the integration of the Most Valuable Builder (MVB) accelerator into YZi Labs' EASY Residency starting October 2025. The merger will create a unique dedicated developer program in the BNB Chain environment. Selected participants will be eligible to receive up to $500,000 in direct funding and will have close access to the core development teams at YZi Labs and BNB Chain.

Beyond funding, participants will be able to connect with YZi Labs' global network of investors, mentors and business partners, as well as tap into its ecosystem of more than 460 million users.

Past contributions from YZi Labs

YZi Labs has actively supported innovation and strengthened institutional participation in the BNB ecosystem via initiatives such as

• Support for notable projects including PancakeSwap, ListaDAO, Aster and Aspecta, all originating from the MVB program.
• Expanding institutional participation through initiatives such as the BNB Digital Asset Treasury (DAT) by BNC, the RWA fund by China Renaissance, and the BNB Yield Fund in partnership with Hash Global.
• Organizing global events and gatherings in Seoul and Singapore to bring together developers, investors and partners.

Ella Zhang, head of YZi Labs, described the blockchain ecosystem as “the next phase of digital infrastructure, where on-chain decentralization and scalability converge with security and real-world distribution. » She added that “ Through this $1 billion BNB Builder Fund, YZi Labs is committed to supporting BNB builders everywhere across industries like DeFi, AI, RWA, DeSci, and more, those building the next generation of open systems connecting technology to human progress “.

All-time high for BNB and impact on CZ holdings

The announcement came at a particularly strong time for BNB, which reached a new all-time high on October 7. The cryptocurrency has consolidated its position as the third largest digital asset by market capitalization, surpassing Ripple's XRP, with a total value of $182 billion.

BNB is up over 27% over the past seven days and over 49% over the past month, with a modest 1% rise over the past 24 hours. This surge also led to a considerable increase in CZ's holdings. As of June 2024, it owns approximately 64% of the total BNB supply, which at current valuation is estimated to be around $116 billion.