BNB Chain was expected to take a back seat in Changpeng Zhao’s quieter 2025, but instead it has become central to his fresh chapter. Following his pardon, the Binance founder has shifted away from running a global exchange day to day and repositioned himself as a mentor, investor, and ecosystem builder, with BNB Chain and next-generation stablecoins now at the core of his focus.
Zhao says the shift has been personal as much as professional. After a turbulent period, he describes his current mindset as finally being able to “turn the page” and move forward unburdened. His routine is now grounded at home, in the gym and in conversations with founders and policymakers rather than trading desks.
That routine rests on four pillars: Giggle Academy, YZi Labs, the BNB Chain ecosystem and advisory work with governments ranging from Pakistan to the UAE. Giggle Academy, his free education app, has already reached more than 90,000 children and is supported by a roughly 60-person team shipping updates weekly. Zhao frames it as a long-term commitment rather than a side project.
YZi Labs is where most of his market-facing activity happens. Acting as a mentor-investor, Zhao says the firm reviewed over 1,000 projects in 2025 and made close to 70 investments, many tied directly to BNB Chain through its EASY Residency program. That builder-first philosophy is now backed by a $1 billion Builder Fund aimed at DeFi, AI, real-world assets and biotech. The timing coincides with BNB Chain pushing toward near “CEX-like” confirmation speeds and record network usage.
Those efforts appear to be paying off. BNB Chain has shaken off its reputation as undervalued and overlooked, with daily active addresses hovering around 2 million and previously reported figures near 2.4 million. On-chain transaction volume has surged roughly 600% year-on-year, placing the network among the busiest by throughput.
BNB’s market performance has mirrored that activity. After an October market-wide crash erased nearly $19 billion in leveraged positions, BNB fell only about 10% before rebounding. It later traded in a volatile $1,100 to $1,340 range and pushed to new all-time highs above $1,330. Exchange order books now show strong bids below $1,100 and heavy resistance between $1,330 and $1,370 — levels traders see as key to either a breakdown or a momentum-driven breakout toward $1,450 to $1,600.
Despite the price action, Zhao is far more animated when discussing stablecoins. He argues the market is still stuck in “stablecoin 1.0,” dominated by models like USDT that tokenize bank deposits but offer little yield. Network effects keep Tether on top, he says, but that dominance leaves room for challengers. Newer designs such as Ethena, which builds yield mechanisms directly into its structure, represent what Zhao calls the early days of “stablecoin 2.0.” YZi Labs has already taken a stake in Ethena.
On BNB Chain, Zhao sees stablecoin development as an open ecosystem rather than a winner-takes-all race. Alongside wrapped USDT, he points to native efforts like USD1’s U.S.-backed collateral model, earlier experiments such as FUSD, and newer projects like $U, which he says shows promise. The goal is simple in theory but difficult in practice: a stablecoin that is liquid, widely listed and able to offer sustainable yield.
Prediction markets are another area Zhao believes is just getting started. He credits platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket with pushing the category into the mainstream during the last U.S. election cycle. Polymarket alone recorded more than $3.6 billion in betting volume and, in many cases, produced more accurate outcomes than traditional polls by putting real money on the line. YZi Labs has backed several early-stage prediction market projects, including BNB Chain-based platforms like Probable and Opinion, where Zhao notes the firm is only a minority investor.
Across all these bets, Zhao’s message is consistent: durable platforms win, not short-term hype. He’s skeptical of subscription-based AI trading agents, arguing that shared alpha disappears as soon as it’s sold at scale. Exchanges, stablecoins and prediction markets, by contrast, can grow through fees and infrastructure.
For Zhao, building in crypto remains a long game. He compares BNB Chain’s path to Nvidia’s decades-long rise and describes success as “a marathon mixed with a boxing match.” In his view, founders focused on fundamentals — not fleeting memecoin narratives — are the ones most likely to still be standing when today’s trends are repriced or forgotten.
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