Binance Co-Founder’s Family Office Backs New BNB Treasury Firm Targeting US Listing

Binance Changpeng Zhao's family office, YZi Labs, is making a significant move by pushing a treasury company to go public in the U.S.

YZi Labs announced on Wednesday that it would be supporting investment firm 10X Capital by turning it into what CZ calls a BNB treasury company, seemingly suggesting that the company would only be investing in Binance's BNB tokens.

BNB, formerly known as Binance Coin, is a token created by the crypto exchange Binance, the world's largest by volume, which gives holders discounts on the platform and is used in products on the BNB Chain blockchain that Binance created in 2019.

Ella Zhang, the head of YZi Labs expressed the company's vision to expand the user base of the BNB token to the wider financial sectors, saying

"We believe expanding its institutional access can deliver meaningful benefits to the broader public."

10X Capital founder and CEO Hans Thomas echoed this sentiment, noting

“BNB Chain is one of the largest, highest performing digital assets ecosystems globally, powering hundreds of millions of users, however, institutional and retail investors in the US have limited exposure to the growth of BNB.”

10X Capital is expected to finalize its initial financing in the coming weeks, taking it one step closer to its vision of bringing the BNB token to Wall Street.

BNB’s Ties to Changpeng Zhao and Binance

BNB is closely associated with both Binance and Changpeng Zhao (CZ). While Binance created the token and offers platform perks to BNB holders, the exchange is not directly involved in the ongoing development of the token or blockchain.

Notably, CZ disclosed in February that 98.5% of his crypto portfolio is held in BNB. According to Forbes, as of June 2024, CZ and Binance together control nearly 96% of BNB’s circulating supply.

CZ personally holding 94 million BNB tokens, currently worth nearly $63 billion and accounts for over 64% of the token’s supply, while Binance controls 31.5% of the supply.

Despite being barred from managing Binance after pleading guilty to US money laundering charges, Zhao remains the exchange’s largest shareholder.

As of the latest market data, BNB is trading above $670, up 1.3% in the past 24 hours.

The Rise of Crypto Treasury Firms

The creation of the BNB Treasury Company reflects a broader trend of public firms stockpiling major cryptocurrencies.

While Bitcoin remains the most popular asset for such strategies, interest is growing in altcoins like BNB and XRP.

For example, Nasdaq-listed Nano Labs recently announced plans to acquire up to $1 billion in BNB, with an initial $50 million purchase already completed.

Other firms, including Singapore’s Trident Digital and China’s Webus, have committed hundreds of millions to XRP holdings.

Changpeng Zhao boasted on his socials, claiming that there are over 30 teams that also want to build a treasury based on BNB tokens.

With the backing of YZi Labs and the leadership of industry veterans, the BNB Treasury Company is poised to offer US investors a new gateway to participate in the growth of the BNB ecosystem.

As institutional demand for regulated crypto exposure continues to rise, this latest move underscores the growing convergence between traditional finance and the digital asset sector.