CZ YZi Labs Investments: Why CZ Likes the Crypto Winter

CZ YZi Labs Investments Reveal Where Zhao Sees Long-Term Opportunity Binance founder Changpeng Zhao has been in a talkative mood lately, and two things he said recently are worth paying attention to. First, he's feeling pretty confident about some CZ YZi Labs investments his family office made when the market was at its gloomiest. Second, he shared an oddly refreshing take on why he's actually happy to see money chasing AI hype instead of crypto right now. Put together, these comments give a good look at how CZ is reading the room these days, straight fromhis own posts on X. What CZ Said About the Recent Bets The core claim is straightforward: CZ believes the CZ YZi Labs investments made over the past several months could turn out to be some of the firm's best-performing bets yet. His reasoning comes down to timing—these positions were built during what he describes as the depth of the crypto winter, when prices and sentiment were both near their lows. It's worth noting he hasn't published actual returns to back this up, so for now it remains a forward-looking view rather than a confirmed result. The Firm and the Deals Behind It YZi Labs manages more than $10 billion in assets as a family office for Zhao and Binance co-founder Yi He, having grown out of what was originally Binance Labs. Its 2026 activity, as tracked and compiled, spans well beyond typical exchange-linked plays: Source: WuBlockchain on X Month Investment Details March RoboForce Led a $52 million round in this physical AI robotics company Pre-January BitGo Invested in the digital asset custodian ahead of its NYSE listing April Predict.fun Added to its position in the prediction market platform, alongside Susquehanna Crypto May AEON Led an $8 million pre-seed round for this AI-agent payments protocol August TermMax Backed the fixed-rate lending protocol, though exact terms were undisclosed The RoboForce round stands out as the largest disclosed check in the group, and it came with a board seat attached, reflecting the firm's stated push into robotics and physical AI. Why Timing Is the Whole Argument The logic behind the CZ YZi Labs investments claim rests on a simple principle: buying during periods of maximum pessimism tends to leave the most room for upside if sentiment turns around. Bitcoin had fallen roughly 47% from its prior peak by early June 2026, which is the backdrop shaping this entire argument. If that recovery holds, early-stage rounds like RoboForce and AEON would have been priced in at a meaningful discount compared to what similar deals might cost during a bull run.