CZ’s YZi Labs Announces $1B Fund to Support BNB Chain Developers as Crypto Hits Record

BNB reached a new all-time high of $1,336, marking a record for the cryptocurrency. Following this achievement, YZi Labs, the venture capital firm founded by Changpeng ‘CZ’ Zhao, announced a $1 billion 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 is intended to deepen its commitment to the growth of projects built on the BNB Chain, with a focus on long-term innovation. The initiative targets emerging sectors such as “trading, RWA, AI, DeSci, DeFi, Payments, Wallets — leveraging the high-performance, low-cost infrastructure of BNB Chain as well as the enhanced tools, funding, integrations, and 460M+ user ecosystem.”

A central feature of this plan is the integration of the Most Valuable Builder (MVB) accelerator into YZi Labs’ EASY Residency beginning in October 2025. The merger will create a single program dedicated to builders within the BNB Chain environment. Selected participants will be able to receive as much as $500,000 in direct funding and will gain close access to the core development teams at both 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 over 460 million users.

Past Contributions of YZi Labs

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

• Supporting notable projects including PancakeSwap, ListaDAO, Aster, and Aspecta, all of which originated 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 decentralization, on-chain scalability converges with security and real distribution.” She added that  “Through this $1B BNB Builder Fund, YZi Labs is committed to supporting BNB builders  across sectors such as DeFi, AI, RWA, DeSci, and more — those building the next generation of open systems that connect technology back to human progress.”

Record High for BNB and Impact on CZ’s Holdings

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

BNB has risen more than 27% over the past seven days and over 49% in the past month, along with a modest 1% increase in the last 24 hours. The surge has also led to a considerable increase in CZ’s holdings. As of June 2024, he reportedly owned around 64% of the total BNB supply, which, at the current valuation, is estimated to be worth approximately $116 billion.