Binance Labs namedrops CZ in a thread announcing rebrand and investment plans in 2025

Binance Labs announced it will be changing its name, along with expanding its scope of investment to include secondary market deals, OTC and other new projects. Though, it also mentions former Binance CEO CZ and his plans to ‘engage with projects on a personal level.’

In a recent post on the last day of 2024, Binance Labs announced that it will soon be operating under a different name and plans to invest in more projects in 2025, specifically naming crypto, blockchain, AI and Biotech as main areas of focus.

Binance Labs will also be expanding its investment scope outside of primary market deals to include other dealings, such as liquidity in secondary markets, and over-the-counter transactions among others.

Though, the venture capital arm of Binance (BNB) also expects sectors that were “underperforming” in 2024, such as gaming, ZK tech and privacy solutions, will make a comeback in 2025 as they move on to more advanced stages compared to the previous year.

In addition, Binance Labs predicts that emerging sectors such as decentralized science, real-world assets, stablecoins and AI agents will continue to perform well in 2025 as these sectors are already poised to develop even further than what they are now.

At Binance Labs (soon to be rebranded), we’re laser-focused on fundamentals, aiming for long-term impact. Going into 2025 and beyond, we’ll continue to provide evergreen support to founders who share our vision of building for the long term.

As we conclude 2024, let’s review the…

— Binance Labs Fund (@BinanceLabs) December 31, 2024

In the thread, Binance Labs makes a mention of former Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao being “back in action” and his plans to invest in industry projects on a personal level.

“With @CZ_Binance back in action, and spending a large portion of his time on investing in the industry, he is eager to connect with both existing and new founders, and engage with projects on a personal level,” wrote Binance Labs.

Although it is not confirmed by Binance Labs, many users took this as a sign that CZ might be returning to the exchange in a less formal setting. However, it is possible the exchange simply alluded to CZ’s involvement in the crypto industry’s emerging sectors, such as AI and Biotech, strengthening their chances of levelling-up in 2025.

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In his first public interview out of prison, CZ said that he is interested in guiding new entrepreneurs in the crypto space and focusing on his two main ventures: Giggle Academy and investments in blockchain, AI, and biotech.

Zhao has reiterated multiple times that he has no intentions of returning to Binance or leading a project of any kind.

In 2024 alone, Binance Labs has invested in a total of 46 projects, 14 of which are projects built on the BNB Chain and from incubation programs. The VC arm stated that 20% of their investments come from BNB-based projects. Meanwhile, the other 32 projects are from direct investments.

Out of the 46 projects that Binance Labs has invested in, 10 projects fall under DeFi, 7 projects from AI, 7 from the Bitcoin (BTC) ecosystem, 4 in restaking, 3 from the gaming sector, 2 in ZK technology, 2 in RWA and 2 more in consumer apps.

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