CZ, YZi Labs Refute Report of Opening $10B Investment Company to External Investors

Binance co-founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao has refuted a report by the Financial Times which said YZi Labs could be opened up to external investors.

Zhao said the Tuesday report was “false news…with with fake/wrong/made-up info and negative narrative,” in a post on X.

“As far as I know…YZi Labs is not raising an external fund,” Zhao wrote.

The report had said that YZi Labs, which was rebranded from Binance’s venture arm Binance Labs at the start of this year, is “open to the possibility of converting into an investment fund.”

Zhao also took exception to the report’s characterization of Binance’s 2023 guilty plea. which led to him stepping down as CEO and spending four months in prison last year, as “criminal charges related to money laundering.”

“I plead to a single violation of BSA, failure to maintain an adequate ANTI-money laundering program,” he wrote.

The report cited an interview with head of YZi Labs Ella Zhang. Zhang also refuted the report on X. “The FT headline suggesting YZi Labs plans to raise external LP money is false. We have no such plan,” she wrote.

YZi Labs rebranded from Binance Labs after Zhao’s release from prison, with the Binance co-founder taking a more active role. YZi Labs is often referred to as Zhao’s family office in that it is an investment vehicle for Zhao’s money.

YZi Labs, however says its structure differs from a traditional family office. “YZi Labs backs high-impact startups driving growth in Web3, AI, and
biotech. Family offices’ focus is more on estate planning, tax structuring, and
generational capital preservation,” it said in emailed fact sheet.