YZi Labs is Not Open for External Investors: Binance’s CZ Says

YZi Labs is not raising money from investors, Binance co-founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) says. In an X post on Tuesday, CZ has accused media outlet FT of a misleading article that YZi Labs, formally Binance Labs, is opening up for external investors.

“YZiLabs is not raising external funds. There is no demo. WTF is a demo for a fund? There is no pitch deck for YZiLabs ever. Not even preparation of one,” CZ noted. 

Is Binance’s YZi Labs Under Conflict?

According to the FT article, Ella Zhang, the managing partner and head of YZi Labs, admitted to a strong interest from investors. The media outlet highlighted that Zhang has received a ‘private demo’ request from Paul Atkins, Chairman of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). 

“YZiLabs, since rebranding, has not sought a single external investor. No requests, no discussions. There has been no demo, no communications with Chairman Paul Atkins from YZiLabs or me,” CZ added.

CZ accused the media outlet of an attempted trap through a failed interview, which was conducted with Zhang. 

Commitment to Web3 Development 

Binance CZ has reiterated several times that YZi Labs is committed to the long-term growth of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology. For instance, YZi Labs announced the launch of the EASY Residency initiative earlier this year to focus on supporting builders in web3, AI, and biotech spaces.

The projects supported by YZi Labs have a higher chance of getting their tokens listed on the Binance exchange. According to market data from CoinMarketCap, the YZi Labs’ portfolio tokens have a net valuation of about $2.7 trillion led by Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ethena, Sui, Injective, 1inch, Kava, and LayerZero.

As such, it is safe to say that YZi Labs collaborates with public investors through its supported tokens that are listed on the Binance exchange.