The $10bn investment firm of Changpeng Zhao, co-founder of crypto exchange Binance who in 2023 pleaded guilty to a US criminal charge, is considering opening up to external investors in future.
YZi Labs, which was spun out of Binance in January, is one of the biggest crypto investors in the world. It manages the money of billionaire Zhao, known as CZ, and a small number of early Binance executives including co-founder Yi He, who is also Zhao’s longtime partner.
Having taken in about $300mn in external investment in 2022 before later returning some of it, the firm — which invests in crypto start-ups as well as biotech and AI — is open to the possibility of converting into an investment fund.