YZi Labs, the fund managing assets of Changpeng Zhao and Binance co-founder Yi He, is actively investing in physical AI systems and crypto infrastructure against the backdrop of declining digital asset values. As Crypto News reports, in September 2026 Zhao stated that investments made by YZi Labs during the market downturn could become some of the best assets in the portfolio. "I firmly believe that YZi Labs investments over the past few months will be among the best, because they were made at the very depth of the crypto winter," Zhao wrote. The fund manages assets exceeding $10 billion and deploys capital into venture projects in Web3, artificial intelligence, and biotechnology. YZi Labs emerged from the rebranding of Binance Labs and operates independently from the main exchange, managing its own investment portfolio through a joint structure with Yi He.
In the first half of 2026, YZi Labs completed a series of major investments across diverse infrastructure projects. In March, robotics company RoboForce raised $52 million in a funding round led by YZi Labs, bringing total funds raised to $67 million. RoboForce develops physical AI systems for industrial operations across the solar energy, data center, manufacturing, mining, and logistics sectors; the company reported letters of intent for more than 11,000 robots. In January, YZi Labs invested in BitGo, a digital asset custodian that listed on the New York Stock Exchange — the first such listing of a custodian among crypto companies. In April, the fund provided additional financing to Predict.fun, a self-custodied prediction market platform on BNB Chain that has processed more than four million orders and accumulated $1.8 billion in trading volume. Two months later, YZi Labs led an $8 million pre-sale round for AEON, a developer of payment infrastructure for AI agents enabling autonomous software to execute and settle transactions. In August, the fund made a strategic investment in TermMax, a fixed-rate lending protocol that pushed total funding above $8 million. Approximately 70–80 percent of the YZi Labs portfolio remains directed toward Web3, though the fund is expanding its exposure to technologies connecting blockchain with artificial intelligence, robotics, and institutional finance.
Zhao's statement reflects a strategy of acquiring assets at low valuations, but does not guarantee the success of each individual investment. The YZi Labs portfolio spans substantially different markets: industrial robot deployment, digital asset custody, prediction market liquidity, and payment infrastructure — each requiring its own conditions for success. Investment performance cannot be measured by token prices alone, as YZi Labs may hold equity, warrants, tokens, or other contractual rights depending on the deal. As of September 6, Bitcoin was trading near $79,945, having recovered from the lower levels seen in the first half of 2026, but remaining below previous highs. YZi Labs has not announced a timeline for publishing portfolio performance data, so the accuracy of Zhao's forecast can only be assessed as financing events, public listings, product adoption metrics, and potential exits from individual portfolio companies materialize.
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This material is prepared exclusively for informational purposes and does not constitute financial advice or a recommendation.