Thanks to the sharp rise in cryptocurrency, Changpeng Zhao, who has only been released from prison for a few months, is worth as much as 70 billion US dollars. He is building a former Binance venture capital company into a family office. Binance Labs, which manages about $10 billion in cryptocurrency-related assets, will change its name to YZiLabs, according to a statement on Thursday.
Changpeng Zhao invited Ella Zhang, who helped establish BinanceLabs, to manage the family office. YZiLabs will also manage the wealth of Binance co-founder He Yi, who has three children with Changpeng Zhao.
Changpeng Zhao, 47, has built Binance into one of the top cryptocurrency exchanges, but he insists that Binance does not have a global headquarters. His compliance approach fell short of U.S. authorities, who in 2023 accused Binance and Changpeng Zhao of failing to prevent cybercriminals and terrorists from trading on the platform. Changpeng Zhao agreed to pay a $50 million fine and resign as CEO. He was sentenced to four months in prison and was released last September.
Zhao Changpeng leaves the federal court in Seattle, Washington on April 30, 2024
Zhang said in an interview that YZiLabs is now "a pure family office investment vehicle." A spokesperson for YZiLabs said the company does not have a formal headquarters because employees work remotely.
Zhang said there is no immediate need for Zhao Changpeng to inject capital into YZiLabs. In the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, he ranks 22nd in the world with a wealth of US$69.8 billion.
According to the statement, YZiLabs will expand beyond cryptocurrencies and invest in artificial intelligence and biotech companies. Zhang said the company is recruiting experts in these fields and intends to expand the team of nine to up to 20 people.