The crypto landscape has entered another pivotal moment as YZi Labs announces a $1 billion Builder Fund to support founders developing within the BNB ecosystem.
With the BNB Chain achieving record daily transactions and solidifying its position among the top three digital assets, the initiative seeks to deepen innovation across core sectors such as DeFi, AI, RWA, and decentralised science.
As the market shifts towards building tangible products and sustainable infrastructure, this fund marks a decisive effort to foster the next generation of projects shaping real adoption.
The Fund and Its Vision
YZi Labs’ $1B Builder Fund is designed to nurture founders building long-term projects within the BNB ecosystem, with a particular focus on the BNB Chain’s high-performance, low-cost network.
This fund provides not only financial support, offering up to $500,000 per project, but also access to technical resources, integrations, and mentorship through the EASY Residency program.
The second season of this residency, beginning in October, expands globally to key cities including New York, San Francisco, Dubai, and Singapore, aiming to create a more immersive and collaborative environment for teams ready to bring ideas into production.
According to Ella Zhang, Head of YZi Labs, the fund represents a strategic step towards strengthening BNB’s decentralised infrastructure and its capacity for real-world impact.
YZi Labs views the BNB ecosystem as the foundation for “humanity’s new scaling laws,” a phrase encompassing the synergy of Web3 accessibility, AI-enhanced potential, and biotech-driven quality of life improvements.
These principles translate into clear goals: enabling developers to create open systems that serve everyday users, integrating blockchain with sectors that influence both finance and human progress.
The program’s structure reflects this ambition. Through targeted incubation and strategic partnerships, YZi Labs connects emerging builders to its vast network of investors, mentors, and over 460 million potential users within the BNB ecosystem.
Additionally, YZi Labs’ existing initiatives, such as the BNB Digital Asset Treasury by BNC, the RWA fund by China Renaissance, and the BNB Yield Fund by Hash Global, demonstrate a long-term commitment to building institutional-grade infrastructure on-chain.
BNB Chain’s performance further reinforces this confidence. The network processes over 26 million transactions daily, holds the top position in decentralised exchange volume and daily active users, and continues to reduce transaction costs following the Maxwell Hardfork in May.
With BNB recently reaching a new peak above $1,330, the ecosystem stands at a crucial point where innovation meets scalability, and YZi Labs aims to turn that momentum into a long-lasting foundation for builders.
From Memecoins to Meaningful Building
While recent months have seen the BNB Chain dominated by the rise of memecoins, from the “4” token movement to creative community-driven assets like GIGGLE, this new initiative signals a shift towards more fundamentally sound projects.
YZi Labs’ approach emphasises longevity and practical use cases, aiming to balance the speculative excitement of meme assets with serious development that expands blockchain’s real-world applications.
The timing is deliberate. As on-chain data from analytics firm Artemis shows, BNB Chain is entering what many call a “BNB Season”, a phase of heightened user engagement and capital inflows.
However, YZi Labs seeks to channel this energy into creating durable innovations that can outlast short-term market cycles.
By bridging speculative enthusiasm with structured support for meaningful ventures, the Builder Fund could redefine the ecosystem’s trajectory from one driven by short-term hype to one guided by sustainable growth.
The EASY Residency plays a central role in achieving this shift. By integrating the Most Valuable Builder (MVB) accelerator under its framework, YZi Labs merges financial backing with close collaboration between founders, engineers, and mentors from both the BNB Chain core team and global investors.
The program’s expansion into multiple continents reflects its intention to transform BNB from a blockchain community into a broader innovation network, capable of nurturing projects that bridge finance, technology, and social value.
For developers and startups, this environment represents a critical opportunity. The combination of funding, technical infrastructure, and access to a global audience enables teams to focus on long-term development rather than short-term speculation.
The aim is clear, which is to create products that deliver real usage, foster on-chain depth, and help define the BNB ecosystem’s identity beyond the volatility of memecoins.
BNB Chain’s evolution from a trading hub to a platform supporting decentralised AI, science, payments, and RWA integration could also attract institutional players seeking scalable yet cost-efficient blockchain infrastructure.
YZi Labs’ past success in connecting Web3 projects with traditional institutions, through gatherings in Seoul and Singapore and collaborations with family offices and funds, suggests a growing bridge between blockchain innovation and mainstream finance.
Conclusion
YZi Labs’ $1B Builder Fund arrives at a defining point for BNB Chain. By aligning capital, mentorship, and infrastructure under one initiative, it seeks to turn BNB’s vast ecosystem into a breeding ground for durable innovation rather than fleeting speculation.
With programs like EASY Residency offering tangible pathways for developers to grow, the fund could transform this new “BNB Season” into a period marked not just by activity, but by lasting progress for the builders shaping the next era of decentralised technology.