Meet the "strongest family office" in the cryptocurrency circle: YZi Labs under Zhao Changpeng, with a scale of 10 billion USD

YZi Labs, under Zhao Changpeng, is considering opening up to external investors. The company has a scale of $10 billion, with 70% of its investment portfolio in crypto assets, while AI and biotechnology have become new focal points.

On Tuesday, the Financial Times reported that YZi Labs, the investment company founded by Binance co-founder Zhao Changpeng, is considering opening up to external investors. The company manages a portfolio valued at $10 billion and has become one of the largest cryptocurrency investment institutions in the world.

YZi Labs was spun off from Binance and began independent operations in January this year, primarily managing funds from Zhao Changpeng and a few early executives of Binance. Ella Zhang, the head of YZi Labs, stated in a media interview that the company will eventually consider transforming into a fund for external investors, but is currently still in the early stages in the fields of artificial intelligence and biotechnology, and is in the process of building a professional team.

Zhang revealed that YZi Labs received about $300 million in external investment in 2022, but later returned part of the funds. She emphasized that due to the large scale of funds managed by the company and its ultra-long-term investment strategy, it is difficult to meet the expected return requirements of external investors in the short term. If YZi Labs decides to accept investors in the future, it may face stricter scrutiny from regulatory agencies.

Investment Landscape: 70% in Crypto Assets, AI and Biotechnology as New Focus

In YZi Labs' investment portfolio, digital asset investments account for about 70%, but interest in artificial intelligence and robotics is growing. Zhang stated that Zhao Changpeng's vision is for robotics to help humans handle various affairs, and these transactions will be completed through crypto wallets.

According to Zhang, deploying $10 billion in funds poses significant challenges. She said:

The challenge is how to deploy the funds; it is really difficult to find enough high-quality assets that meet our standards.

The 12-person team adopts an "ultra-long-term" investment approach, Zhang added:

We do not calculate investment return multiples annually like other venture capital firms; most of the projects we invest in are not in a hurry to exit, which is also one of the reasons for returning part of the external funds.

Layout of Crypto "Treasury Companies," Leading Emerging Investment Trends

Recently, YZi Labs has focused on investing in several so-called crypto "treasury companies," which raise funds through public offerings to purchase tokens. The company is supporting a $1 billion deal involving Bitcoin mining manufacturers and led a $500 million financing round in July to transform a Nasdaq-listed e-cigarette manufacturer into a BNB treasury company.

Zhang revealed that during the summer financing boom, YZi Labs received investment proposals from "over 50 teams" hoping to purchase tokens in large quantities. This trend reflects the rapid growth of institutional investors' demand for cryptocurrency allocations.

The company maintains a cautiously optimistic attitude towards such investment opportunities, focusing on projects with long-term value rather than short-term speculative investments