YZi Labs, the family office established by Binance co-founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, is reportedly considering the option of accepting external investors. According to a report from the Financial Times, the $10 billion investment company—formerly known as Binance Labs—is contemplating a transition into an investment fund format. In an interview, Ella Zhang, the head of YZi Labs, acknowledged the growing interest from external investors, stating, “There’s always a lot of external investors interested and we will eventually consider turning it into an external-facing fund.”
Zhang emphasized that while YZi Labs possesses substantial expertise in Web3 investments, it is still in the early stages of exploring sectors such as artificial intelligence (AI) and biotechnology. “We’re forming our team, and when we have that expertise…we’ll be open to external investors,” she explained.
The rebranding of YZi Labs from Binance’s venture capital arm to Zhao’s family office occurred shortly after Zhao’s release from a four-month prison sentence. This sentence was related to allegations of inadequate compliance with know-your-customer (KYC) regulations at Binance. Following his guilty plea, Zhao stepped down from his role as CEO of Binance, allowing him to focus more on YZi Labs, which manages the assets of both Zhao and his longtime partner, Yi He.
Typically, family offices do not accept outside investments as they are designed to manage the wealth of a single family without raising funds from external parties. As of now, YZi Labs has not provided a comment to CoinDesk regarding this potential shift in its investment strategy.
