Key Takeaways
- • Changpeng "CZ" Zhao is converting the former venture arm of Binance, Binance Labs, into a family office, with the entity to be renamed YZi Labs according to a statement issued Thursday (January 23, 2025).
- • Binance Labs oversees roughly $10 billion in crypto-related assets, per Bloomberg, making the vehicle one of the larger crypto-focused pools to shift from venture investing to family office management.
- • Ella Zhang, who helped establish Binance Labs in 2018 and departed about two years later, has been brought back to run the new entity.
- • YZi Labs will also manage the wealth of Binance co-founder Yi He, Zhao's partner with whom he has three children.
- • Bloomberg reports Zhao's net worth at about $70 billion, supported by the crypto rally, a few months after his release from prison.
Summary
Changpeng "CZ" Zhao, the founder of Binance, is transforming the exchange's former venture capital arm into a family office, according to Bloomberg. Zhao, who was released from prison a few months before the report and whose net worth Bloomberg puts at $70 billion on the back of the crypto rally, is restructuring Binance Labs for this purpose.
Binance Labs, which oversees about $10 billion of crypto-related assets, will be renamed YZi Labs, according to a statement released on Thursday, January 23, 2025. The vehicle will now also manage the personal wealth of Binance co-founder Yi He, with whom Zhao has three children. The move shifts the entity's mandate from investing in external projects toward managing the wealth of the founding family.
Zhao has brought back Ella Zhang to lead the operation. Zhang helped set up Binance Labs in 2018 and left roughly two years later. Her return signals a leadership structure built around existing Binance-linked relationships rather than an outside hire.
For institutional observers, the restructuring highlights how large crypto fortunes are being organized into dedicated investment vehicles, and how a former corporate venture arm can be repurposed to manage concentrated personal wealth.
Binance Labs, which oversees about $10 billion of crypto-related assets, will be renamed YZi Labs, according to a statement released on Thursday, January 23, 2025. The vehicle will now also manage the personal wealth of Binance co-founder Yi He, with whom Zhao has three children. The move shifts the entity's mandate from investing in external projects toward managing the wealth of the founding family.
Zhao has brought back Ella Zhang to lead the operation. Zhang helped set up Binance Labs in 2018 and left roughly two years later. Her return signals a leadership structure built around existing Binance-linked relationships rather than an outside hire.
For institutional observers, the restructuring highlights how large crypto fortunes are being organized into dedicated investment vehicles, and how a former corporate venture arm can be repurposed to manage concentrated personal wealth.
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