Lucía Peña
YZi Labs, the $10 billion family office launched by former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ), has increased its stake in Ethena Labs, the team behind the fast-growing synthetic dollar USDe. The move aligns with Ethena’s strategy to expand its footprint on BNB Chain through money market integrations, protocol partnerships, and broader ecosystem development.
“We’re excited to strengthen our collaboration with YZi Labs, a long-time strategic partner,” said Ethena CEO Guy Young. “The ultimate goal for digital dollars has always been to integrate yield-bearing stable assets directly into the heart of the crypto economy.”
YZi Labs — formerly known as Binance Labs — was one of Ethena’s earliest investors, having selected it during the firm’s Incubation Season 6 program before USDe officially launched.
USDe: A Different Kind of Stablecoin
Launched in early 2024, USDe introduced a unique delta-neutral hedging model to maintain its dollar peg, setting it apart from traditional stablecoins. The project quickly attracted heavyweight investors, including Arthur Hayes’ Maelstrom, Dragonfly, Brevan Howard, and Franklin Templeton.
USDe became the fastest onchain dollar alternative to reach $10 billion in circulation and today sits at around $14 billion market cap, making it the third-largest stablecoin. The asset was extended to BNB Chain in April, broadening its adoption.
YZi’s Role in Expanding Adoption
Friday’s announcement didn’t specify whether YZi Labs’ increased position involves new financing. However, the firm emphasized that its backing will help Ethena:
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Accelerate USDe adoption across both centralized exchanges (CEXs) and DeFi
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Advance its USDtb stablecoin, fully collateralized by BlackRock’s BUIDL fund
Ethena is also building Converge, an EVM-based settlement layer designed with Securitize and BlackRock tokenization partners to bring institutional-grade RWAs (real-world assets) on-chain.
Growing Exchange and Institutional Support
Earlier this month, Binance announced USDe integration as both a spot trading pair and a yield-bearing collateral asset for derivatives traders, adding further momentum to Ethena’s adoption curve.
CZ’s Family Office: From Binance to YZi
Now managing $10 billion in assets, YZi Labs spun out of Binance in January 2025, shortly after CZ’s release from prison. Zhao served a four-month sentence in 2024 after pleading guilty to anti-money laundering and compliance violations in late 2023.
