Changpeng Zhao–backed YZi Labs has taken a strategic stake in BitGo as the crypto custodian made its long-awaited debut on the New York Stock Exchange. In a Jan. 23 announcement, YZi Labs head Ella Zhang praised BitGo’s decade-long, hack-free security record and described the firm’s regulated, institutional-grade infrastructure as a “critical competitive advantage” for the maturing digital-asset industry. YZi Labs said it invested because it expects U.S.-regulated crypto infrastructure to become “inevitably vital” as institutional capital increasingly flows onto digital-asset rails. The firm did not disclose the size of the investment. Founded in 2013, San Francisco–based BitGo provides custody, wallet infrastructure, staking and settlement services to more than 5,100 institutional clients in over 100 countries, and currently safeguards about $82 billion in assets. BitGo’s NYSE listing — the first major crypto IPO of 2026 — priced at $18 per share after an initial marketing range of $15–$17, raising roughly $212.8 million and valuing the company at over $2 billion. Shares, trading under the ticker BTGO, rallied as much as 36% to an intraday high of $24.50 at the open before surrendering most of those gains by the close; BTGO was trading around $18.35 in after-hours trading at last check. BitGo also won conditional approval last year for a U.S. banking charter that would allow it to operate as a trust bank — a regulatory path pursued by other crypto firms such as Circle and Ripple. YZi Labs — formerly Binance Labs and serving as the family office of Binance co-founders Changpeng Zhao and Yi He — has invested in more than 300 projects across 25+ countries. Other prominent investors in BitGo include Goldman Sachs, Valour Equity Partners, Mike Novogratz’s Galaxy Digital, Craft Ventures, DRW and Redpoint Ventures. Last October, YZi Labs made its first AI investment when it led a funding round for AI video education startup VideoTutor. Read more AI-generated news on: undefined/news

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