YZi Labs, the family office of Binance co-founders Changpeng Zhao and Yi He, has invested a "multi-8-figure" sum in Genius Trading, marking a significant bet on cross-chain trading infrastructure.
The investment, announced Tuesday, positions Genius as an on-chain alternative to centralized exchanges by prioritizing privacy and execution speed across decentralized venues.
Zhao has also joined Genius as an advisor, adding strategic heft to the New York-based startup that aims to solve what it calls the "transparency bug" plaguing professional traders in decentralized finance.
What Happened
YZi Labs invested well above $10 million in Genius Trading, according to Armaan Kalsi, the startup's co-founder and CEO, in an interview with The Block.
The exact amount and structure of the investment remain undisclosed.
Genius has processed more than $60 million in trading volume since its soft launch in October 2025, with usage concentrated among on-chain whales managing millions in monthly trading activity.
The platform supports spot trading, perpetual futures, and copy trading across more than 10 blockchains, including BNB Chain, Solana, Ethereum, Hyperliquid, Base, Avalanche, and Sui.
Genius uses a custom multi-party computation wallet and proprietary cross-chain routing to enable users to access liquidity without bridging assets or publicly signaling strategies.
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Why It Matters
The investment signals growing institutional interest in execution-focused tools as cryptocurrency trading activity spreads across multiple blockchains.
Genius' privacy layer, currently in beta with a public launch planned for the second quarter of 2026, enables users to split large trades across hundreds of wallets to reduce traceability while keeping transactions on-chain.
"If you were rebuilding Binance today, you wouldn't do it as a centralized exchange - you'd build it on-chain," said Ryan Myher, co-founder and chief operating officer of Genius Trading.
The platform avoids relying on off-chain components or zero-knowledge systems that can introduce execution delays, focusing instead on CEX-level speed with full user custody.
YZi Labs manages approximately $10 billion in assets and focuses on venture-stage investments across Web3, artificial intelligence, and biotechnology.
The firm evolved from Binance's former venture arm and operates as Zhao's family office following his departure as Binance CEO.
Genius previously raised $7 million in funding, including a $6 million round in 2024 led by CMCC, with participation from Balaji Srinivasan, Anthony Scaramucci, and Flow Traders.
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