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Investment Analysis of #YZILabs (formerly Binance Labs) in Q4 2025: Where the Venture Giant Is Placing Its Bets

The activity of YZi Labs (formerly Binance Labs) has traditionally served as a barometer of trends in the crypto industry. Its investment portfolio for Q4 2025 reveals the strategic priorities of one of the most influential venture funds in the blockchain space. This analysis highlights the key directions the fund is betting on and helps explain its logic in building the ecosystem of the future.

Investment Allocation by Sector

Based on an analysis of 11 investment deals, four key focus areas stand out:

Finance and DeFi (5 projects):

Better Payment Network (Seed, Oct 15) – payment solutions
Temple (Seed, Oct 16) – financial services
Standard Money (Strategic, Nov 3) – decentralized finance
AllScale (Incubation, Dec 3 and Seed, Dec 8) – scalable financial solutions

Prediction Markets (2 projects):

predict fun (Incubation, Dec 2)
Probable (Incubation, Dec 16)

Blockchain Infrastructure and Services (3 projects):

APRO (Strategic, Oct 21) – blockchain services
Sign (Strategic, Oct 21) – infrastructure
Funes (Founding, Nov 6) – blockchain services

Education (1 project):

Open Campus (Strategic, Oct 20)

Key Investment Trends
1. Strategic Focus on Financial Infrastructure

45% of investments are directed toward the financial sector, indicating a systemic approach to building Web3 financial infrastructure. Notably, the fund invests both in core payment solutions (Better Payment Network) and in more complex financial structures (AllScale, Standard Money). This demonstrates a “full-cycle” strategy—from basic transactions to sophisticated financial instruments.

2. Double Bets on High-Potential Areas

The fund applies a “duplication” strategy in the most promising sectors:
Two deals with AllScale (incubation and seed rounds) signal a strong interest in scalable financial solutions.Two projects in the prediction markets segment (predict fun and Probable) reflect confidence in the growth of this vertical.

3. Balance Between Infrastructure and Applications

YZi Labs maintains a balanced portfolio: 27% of investments go into infrastructure projects (Sign, APRO, Funes), creating a foundation for application-layer development in other sectors. This approach resembles building “roads and bridges” before developing “cities.”

4. Long-Term Investment in Education
Including the educational project Open Campus in the portfolio shows an understanding of the importance of human capital development for the sustainable growth of the entire ecosystem.

Investment Round Characteristics
The analysis highlights YZi Labs’ strategic flexibility.

By round type:

Incubation: 3 projects (27%)
Seed rounds: 4 projects (36%)
Strategic rounds: 4 projects (36%)Founding round: 1 project (9%)

By timing:
October: 5 deals (45%)November: 2 deals (18%)December: 4 deals (36%)

Conclusions and Takeaways

Where YZi Labs Is Placing Its Bets:
Scalable Financial Ecosystem

The primary bet is on building a comprehensive Web3 financial infrastructure capable of competing with traditional systems. Projects like AllScale (which received double funding) and Standard Money could become the backbone of the next generation of DeFi.
Information Markets as a New Asset Class

Investments in two prediction market projects indicate a belief that forecasting markets will become a meaningful part of the crypto economy, combining finance, data, and social interaction.
Foundational Infrastructure

Support for blockchain services and infrastructure solutions reflects an understanding that application growth requires a robust technological foundation.
Ecosystem Approach

YZi Labs is not merely building a portfolio of isolated projects, but a connected ecosystem in which infrastructure supports financial applications, and educational initiatives ensure a steady influx of users and developers.
• Early and multiple bets — The fund is actively involved at early stages (incubation, seed) and, in promising areas, places several bets in parallel, diversifying risk.

• Horizontal and vertical integration — Investments span multiple layers of the technology stack (from infrastructure to applications) and adjacent sectors (finance, education, prediction markets).

• Long-term vision — The inclusion of an education-focused project highlights an orientation toward sustainable, multi-year ecosystem development rather than short-term financial returns.

The investment activity of YZi Labs in Q4 2025 reflects a mature, systematic approach to building a blockchain ecosystem. Instead of chasing short-term trends, the fund is constructing a balanced portfolio that combines infrastructure projects, financial innovation, and educational initiatives. This strategy aims to create a resilient, multi-layered ecosystem capable of becoming the foundation for the next stage of Web3 development.

Where is the bottom for #1inch ?
There is publicly available information about the participation of YZi Labs (formerly Binance Labs) in the Series B round, which resulted in a loss of 0.1x ROI based on a token sale price of 1.50 USDT.
Fundraising rounds such as Seed, Series A, and Community Token Distribution (x2) are considered private.
At the moment, technical analysis only allows us to identify that the asset price is moving toward ATL (All-Time Low) levels, which stand at 0.1039 USDT.
The daily timeframe (TF) clearly shows the price consolidating below the IBM SHORT support (currently acting as resistance), while also forming a bear flag pattern.
In the medium term, a further decline and a retest of the double bottom formed on November 4 and December 31, 2025 can be expected.
A full trend reversal into a long position should only be considered if the asset price reaches and holds above the resistance range between 0.2066 and 0.2137 USDT.
#YZILabs

Why did the venture giant bet on the “invisible” trading terminal of the future?
The venture arm YZi Labs (formerly known as Binance Labs) continues to shape trends in the crypto industry. Its latest investment, made as part of the Genius funding round, is more than just a capital injection. It is a strategic bet on the future of decentralized trading, where privacy, cross-chain interaction, and liquidity aggregation are becoming basic needs for experienced traders.
Let’s break down what Genius is and why it caught the attention of one of the most influential investors in the space.
1. What is Genius? Not just another interface.
Genius positions itself as an advanced on-chain trading terminal—but that description is too modest. In short, it is a unified portal for trading across more than 300 DEXs on 8 networks, including Solana, Ethereum, BNB Chain, Arbitrum, and others.
1.1 It is not an exchange or a market maker. Its strength lies in aggregating the best execution paths (routing) and delivering optimal order execution.
1.2 Core philosophy: abstract away all the complexity of multichain trading and give users a single, powerful, and private tool.

2. “Killer” features that set Genius apart
It is likely these technological advantages that became the decisive factor for YZi Labs.
2.1 Ghost Orders: The key innovation. The system enables fully invisible transactions by splitting large orders into hundreds of smaller ones and distributing them across up to 500 wallets. This minimizes frontrunning and the market impact of large trades—a major pain point for many professional DeFi traders.

2.2 Native cross-chain bridge (Genius Bridge Protocol): Users can trade directly across different blockchains from a single interface (for example, buying a token on Solana while selling an asset on Arbitrum). This removes the need for third-party bridges and saves time.
2.3 Full self-custody and security: The private-key infrastructure is built in partnership with Turnkey , a leader in non-custodial key management. The project has undergone multiple audits by Halborn, Cantina, and other respected firms—critical for building trust.
2.4 Genius Points program and gamification: The project launched a program with 50 million GP points for trading, a high-reward referral system (up to 45%), and a badge system. This is a powerful tool for attracting and retaining liquidity.
3. Market analysis: Why does YZi Labs’ bet look justified?
3.1 Filling a market gap: Aggregators already exist, but Genius offers a unique combination of privacy + native cross-chain functionality + broad network support (including Solana and Sui). As shown in their comparisons, alternatives (Axiom, BullX, etc.) do not cover this full feature set.
3.2 Focus on B2B2C and the institutional segment: Features like Ghost Orders and secure infrastructure directly address the needs of pro traders, funds, and “whales,” whose actions on public DEXs are easy to track. With its extensive network, YZi Labs sees strong scaling potential precisely in this segment.
3.3 Strategic synergy: Despite separating from Binance, YZi Labs retains deep expertise in ecosystem building. Investing in an infrastructure project that improves user experience and liquidity across DeFi aligns with the industry’s long-term development logic
4. A practical view for traders: is it worth trying?
4.1 Who it’s for: Primarily experienced DeFi users who actively trade across multiple networks, value privacy, and are tired of high slippage on large orders.
4.2 Risks and nuances: Despite audits, any complex DeFi application carries smart-contract risks. In addition, users must trust Turnkey’s architecture. Beginners should first focus on learning the basics.

4.3 What to Watch Next: Key Metrics for Evaluating Project Success — total trading volume (TV) through the platform, the number of active users, and expansion of the list of supported networks and DEXs.

YZi Labs’ investment in Genius is not about hype around a memecoin. It’s a bet on fundamental improvements to DeFi infrastructure. Genius addresses real, long-standing pain points for professional traders: lack of privacy, fragmented liquidity across networks, and the complexity of management.
If the Genius team can execute flawlessly on what they’ve announced, ensure stable bridge operations, and attract a critical mass of users, the project has every chance to become a new standard for on-chain trading. YZi Labs, it seems, believes precisely in this scenario.

#Trading #investments #YZILabs #Cryptocurrencies #Privacy

YZi Labs, the family office of Binance co-founders CZ and Yi He, made a "multi-8-figure" investment in Genius Trading, with CZ joining as an advisor. Genius Trading is a decentralized, privacy-focused trading platform enabling onchain trading across multiple blockchains. The startup, now backed by a prior $7 million raise, has processed over $60 million in trading volume since its beta launch. It plans to release a privacy layer in early 2026 to protect large trading strategies onchain. Genius, based in New York City, aims to become a full custody, cross-chain alternative to centralized exchanges like Binance.
Cocoon AI Summary
YZi Labs, the family office of Binance co-founders Changpeng “CZ” Zhao and Yi He that spun out of Binance Labs, has made a “multi-8-figure” investment in Genius Trading, with Zhao joining as an advisor.
Genius Trading is building a privacy-focused, decentralized trading platform that offers spot, perpetual futures, and copy trading features through a self-custodial, cross-chain terminal, aiming to become an onchain alternative to Binance.
“If you were rebuilding Binance today, you wouldn’t do it as a centralized exchange — you’d build it onchain,” said Ryan Myher, co-founder and COO of Genius Trading. “Genius is our answer to what that looks like: one terminal, full custody, no compromises.”
YZi Labs invested in Genius last month, with the “multi-8-figure” investment being well above $10 million, Armaan Kalsi, co-founder and chief executive officer of Genius, told The Block. He declined to disclose the exact size or structure of the investment, whether equity, tokens, or a mix, and also declined to comment when asked if Genius is planning to issue its own token.
What is Genius Trading?
Genius is positioning itself as a unified trading terminal that allows users to access liquidity across more than 10 blockchains, including BNB Chain, Solana, Ethereum, Hyperliquid, Base, Avalanche, and Sui, without bridging assets, switching wallets, or publicly signaling trading strategies onchain.
“We’re building a privacy-specific trading suite that is still in beta,” Kalsi told The Block. “We’re taking our time. Our bet is that the current degeneracy meta in crypto is a great way to acquire users (speculation), but that once they realize the power of the underlying technology, they will want to stay. At which point, privacy becomes an incredibly important feature for crypto to mature and retain users who want to actually build their financial lives onchain.”
Since its "soft" launch last October, Genius says it has processed more than $60 million in trading volume, with usage concentrated among onchain whales managing millions of dollars in monthly trading activity. Behind the interface, the platform uses a custom multi-party computation wallet, proprietary cross-chain routing logic, and direct integrations with decentralized exchanges. Kalsi said Genius has no plans to launch its own blockchain and intends to integrate only with existing chains and DeFi protocols.
Privacy layer 
A central part of Genius’ technical roadmap is a privacy layer designed to shield large trading strategies onchain. The system, currently in beta, enables users to split large trades across “hundreds of wallets” to reduce traceability while keeping transactions onchain. Genius said the approach avoids relying on offchain components or zero-knowledge systems that can introduce execution delays. A public beta of the privacy protocol is planned for the second quarter of 2026.
Kalsi said the focus on privacy reflects a longer-term view of onchain adoption. He described the trading “terminal wars” as a period of aggressive competition among trading platforms such as Axiom, GMGN, Photon, and Padre, which he said have been competing on customer acquisition costs and feature density. While speculative activity has helped drive user growth across crypto, Kalsi said privacy will become increasingly important as users seek to build lasting financial activity onchain.
Before the YZi Labs investment, Genius raised a total of $7 million in prior funding, including a $6 million round in 2024 and a $1 million extension, Kalsi said. That round was led by CMCC, with participation from Balaji Srinivasan, Anthony Scaramucci, Flow Traders, and other investors.
Genius, built by Shuttle Labs, was founded in 2022, when the core team was still in college at Yale University, Kalsi said. The project initially began as a block data legibility and explorer tool before evolving into a trading platform, he added, noting that the same core team has continued building together since inception. Besides Kalsi and Myher, Genius’ third co-founder and chief technology officer is Brihu Sundararaman.
Genius is headquartered in New York City and operates with a globally distributed team of 11 people, Kalsi said. He added that the startup plans to hire cautiously, potentially adding two to four additional employees in the near future.
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#CZ #YZi #YZILabs