Why CZ Thinks YZi Labs’ Crypto Winter Bets Could Be Its Best

Changpeng Zhao’s bullish view of YZi Labs’ recent investments is fundamentally a contrarian venture-capital thesis: invest while crypto markets are weak, then benefit if the cycle, company fundamentals, and exit market improve. Zhao said he expects investments made during the depth of the crypto winter to be among the firm’s best performers. That is a forward-looking conviction, however—not a result supported by disclosed returns. 177

The seven disclosed 2026 investments

Reporting on Zhao’s comments identifies seven YZi Labs investments made in 2026:

• Genius — an on-chain trading terminal that received YZi Labs backing in January. 441
• BitGo — a digital-asset custody and security company. YZi Labs announced an investment tied to BitGo’s NYSE debut in January. 137
• RoboForce — a physical-AI robotics company whose $52 million March financing was led by YZi Labs. 133
• Atlas Scout — a venture project in which YZi Labs reportedly invested $1 million in March. 4
• Predict.fun — a crypto-native prediction-market platform on BNB Chain. YZi Labs made a strategic follow-on investment alongside Susquehanna Crypto in April; the amount was not disclosed. 1920
• AEON — an AI-agent payments protocol. YZi Labs reportedly led an $8 million pre-seed round in May. 12
• TermMax — a fixed-rate lending protocol backed by YZi Labs in August; the reported deal terms were not disclosed. 12

Together, the list is broader than a directional token bet. It includes crypto-market infrastructure, DeFi, trading tools, AI-linked payments, robotics, and prediction markets.

Why investing in a crypto winter can be attractive

The logic behind Zhao’s view is straightforward. A market downturn can create a more favorable environment for long-horizon investors:

• Potentially lower entry valuations: Founders raising capital in a weak market may accept valuations that are less inflated than those available during a boom.
• Less crowded dealmaking: When speculative capital retreats, investors that continue deploying funds can face less competition for promising teams.
• A focus on builders rather than hype: A downturn may leave founders who are prepared to keep developing products despite weaker prices and harder fundraising conditions.

These are investment rationales, not proof that any individual company will succeed. The claimed advantage depends on YZi Labs having selected durable teams and businesses, as well as on those companies gaining customers, liquidity, regulatory clarity, or eventual exit opportunities.

YZi Labs’ reported $10 billion-plus mandate and allocation

YZi Labs has been described as managing more than $10 billion for Zhao and Binance co-founder Yi He, with investments across Web3, artificial intelligence, and biotechnology. 616

One report characterized the portfolio allocation as roughly 70% crypto ecosystem and 30% cross-industry AI and biotechnology. 6 The crypto-heavy share means the firm retains substantial exposure to sector conditions even as it expands into areas such as robotics and AI payments.

That diversification may create multiple possible paths to value creation: a recovery in crypto infrastructure and DeFi activity, adoption of AI-enabled services, or progress in biotech. But diversification across sectors does not eliminate venture risk, and the reported allocation remains meaningfully connected to crypto-market conditions. 6

What must happen for the thesis to work

A favorable entry point is only the beginning. For these bets to become top performers, several conditions would need to align:

1. Portfolio companies must execute. RoboForce, AEON, Predict.fun, TermMax, Genius, BitGo, and Atlas Scout each face distinct product, market, funding, and regulatory challenges.
2. The market must provide liquidity. Venture gains become realized only through outcomes such as acquisitions, public listings, token liquidity, or later financing at higher valuations.
3. Crypto conditions must improve or remain supportive. With a reported 70% allocation to the crypto ecosystem, a prolonged downturn could weigh on valuations, fundraising, and exit opportunities. 6
4. Governance issues must be contained. Reporting has described an ongoing dispute between YZi Labs and CEA Industries, also known as BNC, alongside an investor lawsuit involving the company. Those developments are separate from the seven-investment cohort, but they show that governance and oversight can remain material considerations around a crypto-linked investment platform. 1214

The central uncertainty: no public performance record yet

The key limitation is simple: public reporting does not provide realized exits, ownership stakes, entry valuations, internal rate of return, multiples of invested capital, or current marks for this 2026 group. Several deal sizes were also undisclosed. 720

As a result, Zhao’s statement should be read as a view on opportunity and timing rather than evidence of completed investment success. Bitcoin’s long-term direction and broader crypto-market conditions may affect sentiment and liquidity, but no price target—including a potential $1 million outcome—can establish whether these individual investments will deliver returns.

Bottom line

YZi Labs’ crypto-winter strategy is a bet that disciplined capital can buy exposure to resilient builders when markets are depressed. The seven reported investments—Genius, BitGo, RoboForce, Atlas Scout, Predict.fun, AEON, and TermMax—show a portfolio reaching beyond pure crypto into robotics and AI-linked payments. 14

Whether the timing proves exceptional will be decided by execution, governance, financing conditions, and eventual exits. For now, the upside case is plausible, but it remains unverified.