In the final stage of Crypto VC, what did YZi invest in?

By: blockbeats|2025/03/20 06:15:03
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Original Article Title: "Closing Stage of Crypto VC, What Has YZi Invested In"
Original Article Author: Lord Zuo

VC is indeed more or less dead, Web2 venture capital refuses to take risks, only engaging in follow-up financing after government-industry guidance funds, Web3 Seed rounds are more talk than action, VC and FA are further merging in reverse, facing Binance startups has become an industry consensus, all Insights and Memos have turned into Info exchanged for Yap.

From an overall perspective, more and more large VCs are starting to participate in projects by issuing tokens, using a secondary approach to realize a primary dream. This differs from early equity investments, initial token offerings IXO, and stock/coin dual-mode. The market is rapidly entering maturity, it just requires further sacrifices from small VCs.

After CZ's comeback, with a focus on investment, education as a slogan, tweets as the essence, going all-in on BNB Chain Meme as the main business, Binance Labs was renamed YZi Labs on January 23, increasingly resembling a Family Office.

The aversion to risk, the preference for investment stability, extends beyond late-stage investing and mature investing, but also to the increasingly diluted exploratory nature of projects. Taking YZi Labs as an example, observe the investment style transformation from new money to old money after getting rich and learn in advance for all.

In the final stage of Crypto VC, what did YZi invest in?

Data Source: Decentralised Co., Infographic: @zuoyeweb3

Under normal circumstances, there should be a large number of seed rounds, with subsequent rounds involving larger amounts.

However, looking at the data from the past six months, the number of seed rounds, compared to A/B/C rounds, not only lacks overwhelming quantity but also sees both sides' amounts being highly similar. The disappearance of crypto rounds is now a reality, those who can secure small amounts will continue to do so, while those who cannot will continue to miss out.

Invest in AI in Cold Silence, Speculate on Meme Chains in the Season

Regardless of Web2/3, AI is currently a bit cold, but CZ feels it's not cold enough yet, hoping to chill a bit more before making a move, leaving behind the true Builders, only requiring the most devout disciples.

Image Description: YZi Investment Targets, Image Source: CryptoRank

However, YZi's direction does involve AI. In fact, most projects can be linked to AI in some way, thus can be divided into "Using Crypto for AI," such as Vana and Tensorplex Labs, and "Using AI for Crypto," such as Plume Network, Blum, and Opinion Labs.

Of course, this is just a forced classification and does not have any guiding significance. In the era of AI-enhanced postpartum care for pigs, there is no need to dwell on how necessary AI is.

Following the chronological order, let's individually review the characteristics of each project.

1. Opinion Labs = Kaito + Polymarket

Opinion Labs is what's known as a human opinion-driven prediction market. I boldly speculate that its future direction is based on predicting and trading based on Twitter KOLs. It can leverage the InfoFi concept on the upside and the enduring trading attributes on the downside, allowing it to both attack and defend.

2. Plume Network = Everything is an RWA

RWA is not a new concept, but Plume Network has had a very legendary journey. It not only secured a $30 million investment from top institutions like Galaxy but also surprisingly chose Gate for an IEO in January this year before receiving YZi's investment, causing a price surge.

Remaining calm amid the waves, with a flexible demeanor, is the polished style of the crypto world. Being the first to issue coins and subsequent fundraising are the epochal opportunities that crypto offers.

3. Tensorplex Labs = LSD + AI

Firstly, I believe decentralized AI is a pseudo-concept. Tensorplex Labs aims to use LSDfi to ensure the decentralization of LLM training and datasets, which doesn't have much productivity value. However, in a crypto environment eager to contribute something to AI, it's not uncommon to receive funding from industry investors.

This has significance for future token prices, as the product is one thing and the token price is another. Otherwise, ADA and XRP would be extremely ashamed.

4. Vana = An AI Concept Coin Spanning Cycles

In 2021, it received investment from Polychain, in 2022 from Paradigm, in 2024 from Coinbase, and in 2025 from YZi Labs, successfully launching on Binance Launchpool.

A very typical VC coin from the previous cycle, which has no relevance to current and future projects, can only be admired.

5. Blum = The Only Seed Player + Transaction

This is the most typical investment style of Binance Labs, a transaction-oriented DeFi product, and also a rare seed round player. The most surprising thing is that both OKX and YZi jointly invested, which can be described as going through hardships together, brothers sailing across the sea hand in hand.

Forgive me for not providing much introduction to the project mechanism and tokenomics because it is meaningless. What are the fundamentals of a Meme, the difference between a community and a meme coin pump group, and the role of tokenomics are what I call the three unsolved mysteries of the crypto world.

Embracing the Family Office Aesthetics, Stability Overwhelms Everything

YZi is distinctive enough, and the domestic public is quite familiar with it. However, after the wealth creation wave from 2017 to 2021, Crypto New Money has gradually transformed into family office institutions like this Old Fashion leverage entity, not seeking extremely high returns but caring more about project stability.

Two years prior to CZ, the first-generation contract king Arthur Hayes, founder of BitMEX, established his family office, Maelstrom. The funding comes from Arthur personally. Similar to CZ's recall of Ella Zhang, Maelstrom's daily operations are overseen by Akshat Vaidya, a former senior executive at BitMEX.

Indeed, Arthur Hayes was able to develop perpetual contract products more suitable for the crypto community and had a unique taste in investments. For example, the stablecoin Ethena in the post-UST era formally kicked off the first step in reducing on-chain product fees through trading on the DeFi platform and the cross-era DeFi product Pendle.

A comprehensive story about Arthur Hayes will be presented in a big article later, who is more worthy of learning from than Sun Gu and CZ.

However, similar to YZi, Maelstrom also pursues stability, such as not investing in memes, but more in meme-related tools and infrastructure, such as Time.Fun. They emphasize success not based on ROI but adhere to the principle of stability first.

Yet, YZi's style is far from being fixed. In the track record of Binance Labs, ensuring a listing on the Binance main site is a highly attractive barrier. However, the homeowner has no surplus now. By the end of 2024, they have begun transferring the project's tokens to Gate. Ultimately, Gate has taken on everything.

Unlike Arthur Hayes, who can serve as Ethena's spokesperson, CZ is currently not deeply tied to any project, and YZi has not formed its own investment aesthetic. As mentioned earlier, Binance Labs is very fond of investing in trading-related products. However, in the post-DeFi boom era, Ethena and Pendle will only be a few, while most will be sell-token projects combining Crypto and AI. The remnants of Web2 AI, the pride of Web3 AI.

As YZi increasingly moves away from the Binance ecosystem, its true strength will still need to be tested by the market. This particularly tests CZ's personal investment level, from the time when its AI has not yet cooled down, to the development of the BNB Chain Meme ecosystem after $TRUMP, I personally feel that it is not as clever as guiding Ben Zhou to reject user withdrawals and strategically seize OKX DEX market share.

However, this could also mean that CZ really does not engage in trading but only focuses on trading platforms.

Conclusion

Yesterday's world is gone forever.

Cryptocurrency venture capital truly set sail from the IXO era, reaching its peak before the FTX collapse (I always have to mention SBF, as his single-handed efforts truly changed the industry trend). Today, it is nothing more than completing the final phase of established investment projects, enduring the abuse from retail investors, and striving to distribute all the tokens.

There were originally no cryptocurrency VCs in the world. With more funds invested, risks naturally arise.

Original Article Link

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$COIN Joins S&P 500, but Coinbase Isn't Celebrating

On May 13, S&P Dow Jones Indices announced that Coinbase would officially replace Discover Financial Services in the S&P 500 on May 19. While other companies like Block and MicroStrategy, closely tied to Bitcoin, were already part of the S&P 500, Coinbase became the first cryptocurrency exchange whose primary business is in the index. This also signifies that cryptocurrency is gradually moving from the fringes to the mainstream in the U.S.



On the day of the announcement, Coinbase's stock price surged by 23%, surpassing the $250 mark. However, just 3 days later, Coinbase was hit by two consecutive events: a hack where employees were bribed to steal customer data and a demand for a $20 million ransom, and an investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) into the authenticity of its claim of having over 100 million "verified users" in its securities filings and marketing materials. These two events acted as mini-bombs, and at the time of writing, Coinbase's stock had already dropped by over 7.3%.


Coincidentally, Discover Financial Services, being replaced by Coinbase, can also be considered the "Coinbase" of the previous payment era. Discover is a U.S.-based digital banking and payment services company headquartered in Illinois, founded in 1960. Its payment network, Discover Network, is the fourth largest payment network apart from Visa, Mastercard, and American Express.


In April, after the approval of the acquisition of Discover by the sixth-largest U.S. bank, Capital One, this well-established digital banking company of over 60 years smoothly handed over its S&P 500 "seat" to this emerging cryptocurrency "bank." This unexpected coincidence also portrayed the handover between the new and old eras in Coinbase's entry into the S&P 500, resembling a relay race scene. However, this relay baton also brought Coinbase's accumulated "external troubles and internal strife" to a tipping point.


Side Effects of ETFs


Over the past decade, cryptocurrency exchanges have been the most stable "profit machines." They play a role in providing liquidity to the entire industry and rely on trading fees to sustain their operations. However, with the comprehensive rollout of ETF products in the U.S. market, this profit model is facing unprecedented challenges. As the leader in the "American stack," with over 80% of its business coming from the U.S., Coinbase is most affected by this.



Starting from the approval of Bitcoin and Ethereum spot ETFs, traditional financial capital has significantly onboarded users and funds that originally belonged to exchanges in a more cost-effective, compliant, and transparent manner. The transaction fee revenue of cryptocurrency exchanges has started to decline, and this trend may further intensify in the coming months.


According to Coinbase's 2024 Q4 financial report, the platform's total trading revenue was $417 million, a 45% year-on-year decrease. The contribution of BTC and ETH's trading revenue dropped from 65% in the same period last year to less than 50%.


This decline is not a result of a decrease in market enthusiasm. In fact, since the approval of the Bitcoin ETF in January 2024, the inflow of BTC into the U.S. market has continued to reach new highs, with asset management giants like BlackRock and Fidelity rapidly expanding their management scale. Data shows that BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin ETF (IBIT) alone has surpassed $17 billion in assets under management. As of mid-May 2025, the cumulative net inflow of 11 major institutional Bitcoin spot ETFs on the market has exceeded $41.5 billion, with a total net asset value of $1214.69 billion, accounting for approximately 5.91% of the total Bitcoin market capitalization.


Chart showing the trend of net outflows for Grayscale among the 11 institutions


Institutional investors and some retail investors are shifting towards ETF products, partly due to compliance and tax considerations. On one hand, ETFs have much lower trading costs compared to cryptocurrency exchanges. While Coinbase's spot trading fee rate varies annually in a tiered manner but averages around 1.49%, for example, the management fee for IBIT ETF is only 0.25%, and the majority of ETF institution fees fluctuate around 0.15% to 0.25%.



In other words, the more rational users are, the more likely they are to move from exchanges to ETF products, especially for investors aiming for long-term holdings.


According to multiple sources, several institutions, including VanEck and Grayscale, have submitted applications to the SEC for a Solana (SOL) ETF, with some institutions also planning to submit an XRP ETF proposal. Once approved, this may trigger a new round of fund migration. According to a report submitted by Coinbase to the SEC, as of April, the platform's trading revenue from XRP and Solana accounted for 18% and 10%, nearly one-third of the platform's fee revenue.



However, the Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs passed in 2024 also reduced the fees for these two tokens on Coinbase from 30% and 15% to 26% and 10%, respectively. If the SOL and XRP ETFs are approved, it will further undermine the core fee revenue of exchanges like Coinbase.


The expansion of ETF products is gradually weakening the financial intermediary status of cryptocurrency exchanges. From their original roles as matchmakers and clearers to now gradually becoming mere "on-ramps and off-ramps" for funds, exchanges are seeing their marginal value squeezed by ETFs.


Robinhood Takes a Stand, Traditional Brokerages Join the Fray


On May 12, 2025, SEC Chairman Paul S. Atkins gave a keynote speech at the Tokenization and Cryptocurrency Working Group roundtable. The theme of his speech revolved around "It is a new day at the SEC," where he indicated that the SEC would not approach enforcement and regulation the same way as before but would instead pave the way for cryptocurrency assets in the U.S. market.



With signs of cryptocurrency compliance such as the SEC's "NEW DAY" declaration, an increasing number of traditional brokerages are attempting to enter the cryptocurrency industry. One of the most representative cases is the well-known U.S. brokerage Robinhood, which began expanding its crypto business in 2018. By the time of its IPO in 2021, Robinhood's crypto business revenue accounted for over 50% of the company, with a significant boost from the Dogecoin "moonshot" promoted by Musk.


In Q1 2025 earnings report, Robinhood showcased strong growth, especially in revenue from cryptocurrency and options trading. Fueled by Trump's Memecoin, cryptocurrency-related revenue reached $250 million, nearly doubling year-over-year. Consequently, Robinhood Gold subscription users reached 3.5 million, a 90% increase from the previous year, with the rapid growth of Robinhood Gold providing the company with a stable source of income.



Meanwhile, RobinHood is actively pursuing acquisitions in the cryptocurrency space. In 2024, it announced a $2 billion acquisition of the long-standing European cryptocurrency exchange Bitstamp. Additionally, Canada's largest cryptocurrency CEX, WonderFi, which recently went public on the Toronto Stock Exchange, also announced its integration with RobinHood Crypto. After obtaining virtual asset licenses in the UK, Canada, Singapore, and other markets, RobinHood has taken a proactive approach in the compliant cryptocurrency trading market.



Furthermore, an increasing number of brokerage firms are exploring the same path. Futu Securities, Tiger Brokers, and others are also dipping their toes into cryptocurrency trading, with some having applied for or obtained the VA license from the Hong Kong SFC. Although their user bases are currently small, traditional brokerages have a natural advantage in user trust, regulatory licenses, and low fee structures. This could pose a threat to native cryptocurrency platforms in the future.



User Data Breach: Is Coinbase Still Secure?


In April 2025, security researchers discovered that some Coinbase user data was leaked on the dark web. While the platform initially responded by attributing it to a "technical misinformation," it still raised concerns among users regarding its security and privacy protection. Just two days before Dow Jones Indexes announced Coinbase's addition to the S&P 500 Index, on May 11, 2025, Coinbase received an email from an unknown threat actor claiming to have obtained customer account information and internal documents, demanding a $20 million ransom to keep the data private. Subsequent investigations confirmed the data breach.


Cybercriminals obtained the data by bribing overseas customer service agents and support staff, mainly in "non-U.S. regions such as India." These agents abused their access to Coinbase's internal customer support system and stole customer data. As early as February this year, blockchain detective ZachXBT revealed on X platform that between December 2024 and January 2025, Coinbase users lost over $65 million to social engineering scams, with the actual amount potentially higher.


Among the victims was a well-known figure, 67-year-old Ed Suman, an established artist in the art world for nearly two decades, having been involved in the creation of artworks such as Jeff Koons' "Balloon Dog" sculpture. Earlier this year, he fell victim to an impersonation scam involving fake Coinbase customer support, resulting in a loss of over $2 million in cryptocurrency. ZachXBT critiqued Coinbase for its inadequate handling of such scams, noting that other major exchanges have not faced similar issues and recommending Coinbase to enhance its security measures.


Amidst a series of ongoing social engineering incidents, although there has not been any impact on user assets at the technical level so far, it has raised concerns among many retail and institutional investors. Especially institutions holding massive assets on Coinbase. Just considering the U.S. BTC ETF institutions, as of mid-May 2025, they collectively hold nearly 840,000 BTC, and 75% of these are custodied by Coinbase. If we price BTC at $100,000, this amount reaches a staggering $63 billion, which is equivalent to the nominal GDP of two Iceland in the year 2024.


Visualization: ChatGPT, Source: Farside


In addition, Coinbase Custody also serves over 300 institutional clients, including hedge funds, family offices, pension funds, and endowments. As of the Q1 2025 financial report, Coinbase's total assets under management (including institutional and retail clients) reached $404 billion. The specific amount of institutional custodied assets was not explicitly disclosed in the latest report, but it should still be over 50% based on the Q4 2024 report.


Visualization: ChatGPT


Once this security barrier is breached, not only could the rate of user attrition far exceed expectations, but more importantly, institutional trust in it would undermine the foundation of its business. Therefore, after a hacking event, Coinbase's stock price plummeted significantly.


CEXs are All in Self-Rescue Mode


Facing a decline in spot trading fee revenue, Coinbase is also accelerating its transformation, attempting to find growth opportunities in derivatives and emerging assets. Coinbase acquired a stake in the options platform Deribit at the end of 2024 and announced the official launch of perpetual contract products in 2025. This acquisition fills in Coinbase's gap in options trading and its relatively small global market share.



Deribit has a strong presence in non-U.S. markets, especially in Asia and Europe. The acquisition has enabled Coinbase to gain a dominant position in bitcoin and ethereum options trading on Deribit, accounting for approximately 80% of the global options trading volume, with daily trading volume remaining above $2 billion.


Meanwhile, 80-90% of Deribit's customer base consists of institutional investors, with their professionalism and liquidity in the Bitcoin and Ethereum options market highly favored by institutions. Coinbase's compliance advantage, coupled with its already robust institutional ecosystem, makes it even more suitable. By using institutions as an entry point, it can face the squeeze from giants like Binance and OKX in the derivatives market.



Facing a similar dilemma is Kraken, which is attempting to replicate Binance Futures' model in non-U.S. markets. Since the derivatives market relies more on professional users, fee rates are relatively higher and stickiness is stronger, making it a significant source of revenue for exchanges. In the first half of 2025, Kraken completed the acquisition of TradeStation Crypto and a futures exchange, aiming to build a complete derivatives trading ecosystem to hedge the risk of declining spot transaction fee income.


With the surge of Memecoin in 2024, Binance, OKX, and various CEX platforms began massively listing small-market-cap, highly volatile tokens to activate active trading users. Due to the wealth effect and trading activity of Memecoins, Coinbase was also forced to join the battle, successively listing popular tokens from the Solana ecosystem such as BOOK OF MEME and Dogwifhat. Although these coins are controversial, they are frequently traded, with fee rates several times higher than mainstream coins, serving as a "blood-boosting" method for spot trading.


However, due to its status as a publicly traded company, this practice is a riskier endeavor for Coinbase. Even in the current crypto-friendly environment, the SEC is still investigating whether tokens like SOL, ADA, and SAND constitute securities.


In addition to the forced transformation strategies carried out by the aforementioned CEXs, they are also starting to lay out RWAs and the most talked-about stablecoin payment fields, such as the PYUSD launched through a collaboration between Coinbase and Paypal, Coinbase's support for the Euro stablecoin EURC by Circle that complies with EU MiCA regulatory requirements, or the USD1 launched through a collaboration between Binance and WIFL. In the increasingly crowded trading field, many CEXs have shifted their focus from just the trading market to the application field.


The golden age of transaction fees has quietly ended, and the second half of the crypto exchange platform game has silently begun.


Key Market Insights for May 16th, how much did you miss out on?

1. On-chain Flows: $111.3M inflow to Ethereum this week; $237.6M outflow from Berachain 2. Largest Price Swings: $ETHFI, $NEIRO 3. Top News: Data: Solana Network's revenue reached $7.9M on the 13th, surpassing the sum of all other L1 and L2 chains

The End and Rebirth of NFTs: How the Meme Coin Craze Ended the PFP Era?

There must be another Labubu hidden beneath the ruins.

Key Market Intelligence on May 14th, how much did you miss out on?

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