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Changpeng Zhao (CZ), the visionary co-founder of Binance, is putting more money into the BNB ecosystem with a huge $1 billion Builder Fund through his venture arm, YZi Labs (previously Binance Labs). This project, which was announced on October 8, 2025, is aimed at long-term builders in DeFi, real-world assets (RWAs), AI, decentralized science (DeSci), payments, and wallets. Its goal is to use BNB Chain’s high-performance infrastructure to make a difference in the real world. The fund came out at the opportune time, when BNB’s price was at an all-time high of $1,336 and its market cap was $182 billion, making it the third-largest cryptocurrency behind Bitcoin and Ethereum. It combines financial support with tools, integrations, and access to YZi Labs’ network of 460 million users. Combining YZi Labs’ EASY Residency with BNB Chain’s Most Valuable Builder (MVB) program makes a single accelerator that can give up to $500,000 to each project. It is open to both new and experienced builders. This fund isn’t just money; it’s a plan for BNB Chain to become a powerful, democratized force. It might bring in billions of dollars in new ideas during a time when altcoins are on the rise.
YZi Labs’ $1 Billion Bet
In 2024, under CZ’s more hands-on supervision, YZi Labs changed its name from Binance Labs and introduced the Builder Fund as a “commitment to BNB builders across sectors,” according to Head Ella Zhang. The $1 billion pool will be rolled out gradually starting in October 2025. It will focus on early-stage companies with “strong conviction, execution, and product-market fit” and will include DeFi protocols, RWA tokenization, AI-driven tools, DeSci research platforms, payment gateways, and secure wallets. Zhang talked about BNB Chain’s strengths, saying it was “a living network with global reach and on-chain depth,” with decentralization, scalability, and 26 million daily transactions (BSCScan statistics for October 7).
The fund is set up to help builders: In addition to money, recipients get technical help from BNB Chain’s core team, mentorship from YZi Labs’ network (which supports more than 300 initiatives in 25 countries, such as PancakeSwap and Aster), and ecosystem integrations that help them grow quickly.
YZi Labs manages more than $10 billion in assets, including CZ and Yi He’s stakes. Its main focus is on projects that connect technology to “human progress,” such as AI-enhanced DeFi and biotech on BNB. “Excited for the next wave of BNB innovation—builders, let’s build!” CZ tweeted on October 8. —getting 15,000 likes and 2 million views.
This isn’t CZ’s first time trying to build an ecosystem: After getting out of prison in 2024, he put a lot more money into YZi Labs’ Web3, AI, and biotech projects, managing billions for the co-founders of Binance. The fund’s timing, right in the middle of BNB’s 32% rise in October, puts it in a good position to ride the altseason wave. Analysts expect BNB TVL to increase by $5–10 billion by 2026.
Merging EASY Residency with MVB
The integration of YZi Labs’ EASY Residency, a product and go-to-market accelerator, with BNB Chain’s flagship Most Valuable Builder (MVB) program in October 2025 is a key part of the fund. The joint project, which is accessible all year, gives some builders up to $500,000 in investment, direct access to BNB Chain/YZi Labs, and a global network of investors, mentors, and partners. EASY Residency is opening new locations in New York, San Francisco, Dubai, and Singapore, where high-conviction teams may work together.
A YZi spokeswoman told Cointelegraph, “We seek early-stage founders building for the long term,” putting alignment ahead of hype. PancakeSwap (CAKE, $1B TVL) and Aster (perp DEX, $2.34B TVL) are examples of successful MVB alumni. The merger’s goal is to do the same for AI-DeFi hybrids and RWA platforms. Applications are coming in, and the fourth quarter groups are focusing on payments and wallets, which are very important to BNB’s 4.6 billion-user ecosystem.
On X, builders are buzzing: @BSC_Today_ tweeted pictures of the fund’s sectors and told builders, “Your time is now.” @CryptoJPTrans translated the announcement, which was about MVB’s last recruiting for BNB innovations. @yzilabs reposted Decrypt’s article, which teased EASY Residency Season 2 for teams who work with BNB.
BNB Chain’s Rapid Rise fuels the Fund’s Momentum
The fund starts during BNB Chain’s record-breaking run: on October 7, there were 26 million transactions (the most since December 2023, according to BSCScan), 4.2 million daily active addresses (TokenTerminal #1), and a total value locked (TVL) of $9 billion (#3 after Ethereum and Solana, DeFiLlama). The Maxwell Hardfork cut block times to 0.75 seconds and fees to 0.05 Gwei, which kept more people on the network and brought developers from chains that were too full.
Aster’s TVL jumped 570% to $2.34 billion, which is a good example of this: It got 25% of the $1 trillion in perp volumes as a multi-chain perp DEX with secret orders and acclaim from CZ. With 58 million MAUs, Binance’s Alpha Points, Launchpool, and wallet events make the ecosystem even stronger. Institutional flows from Southeast Asia and Kazakhstan are helping BNB’s deflationary burning (180 million GT burned) and Fed cutbacks.
BNB’s all-time high of $1,330 flipped XRP and USDT, bringing its market valuation to $182 billion, making it the third-largest overall. “Q4 is INSANE!!!” says @kyle_chasse on X, linking it to meme surges about CZ that happen every day (+1,000%).
Going Beyond the Hype
There is a risk with YZi Labs’ fund: Putting “long-term” builders first helps ease fears of rug-pulls, but BNB’s centralization problems (YZi ties) and perp volatility (Aster’s 26% swings) remain. Zhang says, “We support conviction over speculation, linking technology to human progress.”
What is the vision? A “democratized” BNB as the backbone of Web3, combining AI, biotech, and DeFi to reach a total value of $5 billion by 2026. As CZ’s life after prison goes on, this $1 billion investment could lead to the next PancakeSwap, making BNB one among the top three coins.
Conclusion
On October 8, 2025, CZ announced the YZi Labs $1B Builder Fund. This is the next step for BNB Chain. It combines EASY Residency and MVB to give DeFi, AI, and RWA inventors $500,000 grants and access to 460 million users. With 26 million transactions every day, $9 billion in total value locked, and BNB’s all-time high of $1,330 swapping XRP, it’s time for altseason glory. The ecosystem is buzzing with Aster’s perpetual supremacy and institutional bets, but centralization murmurs that it needs proof. For builders, it’s a way to get started; for BNB holders, it’s a way to show their support. Zhang wants “open systems for human progress,” and CZ’s fund could help BNB’s legacy go on. Keep an eye on Q4 cohorts to see what happens.
