Key Takeaways
- • Changpeng Zhao expects YZi Labs' investments made during the crypto downturn to become the family office's best-performing bets, attributing success to timing deployment during market lows.
- • YZi Labs manages over $10 billion in assets for Zhao and Binance co-founder Yi He, operating independently after rebranding from Binance Labs with expanded focus across Web3, AI, robotics, and healthcare.
- • The firm deployed capital across diversified sectors in 2026, including a $52 million lead in robotics company RoboForce (March), an $8 million pre-seed round in payments protocol AEON (May), and positions in prediction markets and fixed-rate lenders.
- • Zhao's thesis links AI capital inflows filtering out weak crypto teams, with AI money subsequently rotating back into digital assets—a dynamic he believes validates YZi Labs' contrarian positioning during the crypto winter.
- • YZi Labs' portfolio expanded beyond traditional crypto into robotics, AI payments infrastructure, digital asset custody (BitGo pre-IPO position), and prediction markets, reflecting a diversified alternative investment mandate.
Summary
Changpeng Zhao, Binance co-founder and manager of the $10 billion YZi Labs family office, expressed confidence that investments deployed over recent months will emerge as the fund's strongest performers. Zhao attributed this outlook to precise market timing, emphasizing that YZi Labs capitalized on depressed crypto valuations to accumulate positions during a significant market contraction. Bitcoin had declined 47% from its peak by early June 2026, triggering discussions of a major crypto winter before prices subsequently recovered partial ground.
YZi Labs, which evolved from Binance Labs and now operates as an independent investment vehicle, broadened its mandate beyond cryptocurrency into artificial intelligence, healthcare, and robotics. The fund manages personal wealth for Zhao and Yi He, the Binance co-founder who serves as co-principal. During 2026, YZi Labs deployed capital across multiple stages and sectors, signaling a deliberately diversified approach to alternative investments during market dislocations.
Notable investments included a $52 million lead round in RoboForce, a physical AI robotics developer, completed in March. The firm also established a pre-IPO position in BitGo, a digital asset custodian that subsequently listed on the NYSE in January 2026. Additional bets included participation in prediction market Predict.fun alongside Susquehanna Crypto in April, an $8 million pre-seed investment in AEON, a payments protocol, in May, and backing of TermMax, a fixed-rate lender, in August.
Zhao's investment thesis connects to a specific market dynamic: capital flowing into artificial intelligence is systematically filtering out underperforming crypto teams, while anticipated rotations of AI capital back into digital assets validate early positioning. During an August 28 book club session in Hong Kong, Zhao outlined this reasoning to justify his conviction in YZi Labs' "crypto winter" entries as optimal entry points. However, no audited performance data has been published, leaving the thesis unvalidated by third-party measurement. Meanwhile, YZi Labs engaged in a separate dispute for control of CEA Industries, a BNB treasury firm, throughout 2026.
The firm has also signaled potential evolution toward opening its portfolio to external investors, indicating consideration of a broader fund structure beyond single-family office operations.
YZi Labs, which evolved from Binance Labs and now operates as an independent investment vehicle, broadened its mandate beyond cryptocurrency into artificial intelligence, healthcare, and robotics. The fund manages personal wealth for Zhao and Yi He, the Binance co-founder who serves as co-principal. During 2026, YZi Labs deployed capital across multiple stages and sectors, signaling a deliberately diversified approach to alternative investments during market dislocations.
Notable investments included a $52 million lead round in RoboForce, a physical AI robotics developer, completed in March. The firm also established a pre-IPO position in BitGo, a digital asset custodian that subsequently listed on the NYSE in January 2026. Additional bets included participation in prediction market Predict.fun alongside Susquehanna Crypto in April, an $8 million pre-seed investment in AEON, a payments protocol, in May, and backing of TermMax, a fixed-rate lender, in August.
Zhao's investment thesis connects to a specific market dynamic: capital flowing into artificial intelligence is systematically filtering out underperforming crypto teams, while anticipated rotations of AI capital back into digital assets validate early positioning. During an August 28 book club session in Hong Kong, Zhao outlined this reasoning to justify his conviction in YZi Labs' "crypto winter" entries as optimal entry points. However, no audited performance data has been published, leaving the thesis unvalidated by third-party measurement. Meanwhile, YZi Labs engaged in a separate dispute for control of CEA Industries, a BNB treasury firm, throughout 2026.
The firm has also signaled potential evolution toward opening its portfolio to external investors, indicating consideration of a broader fund structure beyond single-family office operations.
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