CZ’s YZi Labs Launches Massive $1B Fund to Supercharge BNB Ecosystem Growth

BNB Chain just got a billion-dollar vote of confidence.

The Ecosystem Accelerator

YZi Labs, backed by Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, drops a staggering $1 billion war chest specifically designed to turbocharge BNB's ecosystem development. This isn't just another funding round—it's a strategic nuclear option against competing chains.

Building While Others Are Selling

While traditional VCs nervously eye exit strategies, CZ's team doubles down on infrastructure. The fund targets DeFi protocols, gaming platforms, and infrastructure projects exclusively within the BNB ecosystem. Because nothing says commitment like writing ten-figure checks while regulators circle.

Another billion deployed in crypto—because apparently, the first few trillion in market cap just wasn't enough ambition for the industry that revolutionized financial volatility.

TLDR

• YZi Labs announced a $1 billion fund to support builders developing projects on BNB Chain across multiple sectors including DeFi, AI, and payments
• BNB reached a new all-time high above $1,330 on October 7 and recorded 27% gains over seven days
• BNB Chain processes 26 million average daily transactions and leads the market in DEX trading volume
• The token’s market capitalization reached $183 billion, making it the third-largest cryptocurrency after surpassing Tether and XRP
• Network mindshare increased 251% in one week while technical upgrades reduced block time to 0.75 seconds and transaction fees to $0.46

YZi Labs announced a $1 billion builder fund for BNB Chain developers on October 9. The fund targets long-term projects in decentralized finance, real-world assets, artificial intelligence, payments, and wallets.

💥BREAKING:

YZi Labs (formerly Binance Labs) launches a $1 billion Builder Fund to empower founders building within the $BNB ecosystem. pic.twitter.com/Ws1GFNLOam

— crypto Rover (@rovercrc) October 8, 2025

The announcement comes as BNB reached a new all-time high of over $1,330 on October 7. The token recorded gains of more than 27% over seven days.

BNB’s market capitalization climbed from around $140 billion on October 1 to over $183 billion. The token became the third-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, surpassing both Tether and XRP.

The fund aims to leverage BNB Chain’s infrastructure and access to over 460 million users. YZi Labs plans to combine incubation, investments, and partnerships to support builders creating new applications.

The Most Valuable Builder accelerator will MOVE to YZi Labs’ EASY Residency program starting in October 2025. Selected projects can receive up to $500,000 in funding and direct collaboration with YZi Labs and BNB Chain core teams.

BNB Chain recorded 26 million average daily transactions. The network leads globally in DEX trade volume and average daily active users.

BSC leads the market again — with over $6.05B in DEX volume and $5.57M in chain fees in the past 24 hours, both ranking #1 among all chains. @BNBCHAIN @cz_binance https://t.co/xSkaWrutls pic.twitter.com/S7OZwH1w1n

— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) October 8, 2025

Network Upgrades Improve Performance

The Maxwell Hardfork launched in May and reduced block time to 0.75 seconds. The upgrade also lowered transaction fees to 0.05 Gwei.

A new upgrade went live on Tuesday to increase the gas limit to 100 million per second. The blockchain previously had a three-second block time and 47 million gas limit per second.

Average transaction fees on BNB Chain stand at $0.46. The low-cost structure has attracted developers and users to the network.

BNB Chain’s total value locked reached $9.26 billion. Active addresses spiked to 73.24 million last month, the highest recorded level.

Market Sentiment and Trading Activity

Crypto market intelligence firm Messari reported BNB’s mindshare increased 251% to 5.09% over seven days. Mindshare measures public attention and discussion around a cryptocurrency.

Rachael Lucas, an analyst at BTC Markets, said the surge reflects a market shift toward high-throughput, low-cost chains. She noted that BNB benefits from having an active ecosystem.

Memecoin trading on BNB Chain has driven retail engagement over the past week. Some traders recorded large gains on small-cap memecoins native to the network.

BNB Chain processed over $6 billion in DEX volume and generated $5.57 million in chain fees, according to blockchain analytics platform Lookonchain. The network leads the market in both metrics.

YZi Labs manages over $10 billion and maintains a portfolio exceeding 300 ventures across 25 countries. The expansion into a $1 billion builder fund represents the firm’s largest commitment to BNB Chain development.

Lucas noted that institutional interest, including CEA Industries’ treasury allocation to BNB, adds credibility to the token’s growth. She said BNB’s fundamentals, including real utility and growing developer activity, provide support for the current price levels.