He ran and retired the largest encryption empire, and now it is about AI and Biotech. But as the CZ can see earlier, the regulatory authorities in France are looking back.
From binary to yzi labs
Crypeng Zhao, more commonly known as “CZ”, the most influential figure in Crypto, has returned, but this time it plays a different role.
In 2023, he resigned as a CEO of Binance and was sentenced to four months in prison in the United States for failure to comply with regulations, and CZ returned to YZI Labs, which expanded its focus beyond the world of Crypto.
YZI Labs is expanding its range by switching to artificial intelligence and biotechnology, unlike predecessors who have nurtured blockchain startups.
This initiative will be led by ELLA Zhang, an early familiar face of Binance Labs, and will introduce a 12 -week direct residence program for startup founders. The CZ will also participate by providing mentoring to next -generation entrepreneurs.
YZI Labs has already made the first major investment and has led the $ 16 million financing round for death.
This mark has developed tokentable, a tool designed to solve the general problems of air drops, such as token supply misconceptions and fraudulent claims for fake accounts.
The CZ pointed out that blockchain infrastructure and trust mechanism remain the core of their vision.
But while CZ is leading, Binance is still tied to regulatory battles. The French authorities have started a new investigation into fraud and money laundering and added the history of Exchange’s legal issues.
Cz may have retreated from Binance, but can regulators and industry easily move him? And how far will Binance fight for the future and bring up the past CZ? Let’s try decoding.
Endless problem
On January 28, the French authorities expanded their investigations on Biny and began judicial investigations on providing money laundering, tax fraud and unauthorized digital asset services.
The Paris Prosecutors’ Office confirmed that the investigation deals with Binance’s activities between 2019 and 2024, and focuses on laundering of drug trafficking.
This means a major development in the case that began with a preliminary investigation in June 2023, and is caused by the user’s dissatisfaction with the fact that the platform has lost money due to the misunderstanding of the preliminary information provided by the platform.
This suspicion is now expanded to the operation of Binance throughout France and the European Union, where the company has been charged with suspicion of operation without proper regulatory approval.
Binance denied this claim and described it as a “years old”. The company said, “Binance will completely reject this claim and actively fight charges.”
Binance also explained that it has strengthened regulations after the resolution of funds and stimulating standards and strengthening employee education programs.
The survey is the latest of a series of legal and regulations on Binos as the investigation into cryptocurrency exchange has increased after the collapse of the FTX in 2022.
In 2023, US authorities, including the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Ministry of Justice, took legal action against major platforms such as Binance and Coinbase, claiming violations of the securities law and other regulatory failures.
While Coinbase opposes the SEC’s claim, Binance settled in November 2023 with DOJ and agreed to pay a historic $ 4.3 billion, showing the largest enterprise compliance penalty.
The US prosecution accused Binance for being operated by the “Wild West” approach, promoting illegal activities and not reporting more than 100,000 suspicious transactions related to terrorism and other criminals.
As part of the settlement, the CZ retreated to the CEO and Richard Teng was appointed as his replacement. But the legal problem is not over.
Binance also faced regulations in other areas in December 2024 that Australia’s financial regulatory agencies sued the company’s local derivative business and donated five classifications as wholesale investors of retailers.
Extended investment portfolio of YZI LABS
Due to the legal issues that Binance is experiencing legal issues, CZ is moving forward to YZI LABS and supports a project that shows clear rest in the past role as an exchange operator.
In 2024, YZI LABS (formerly Binance Labs) actively expanded its investment portfolio, which focused on emerging technology. Throughout the year, the company has invested in 46 projects in various sectors, including distributed finance, AI, GAMING and DESCI.
In August 2024, YZI Labs announced its investments in two AI -centric companies to support the development of AI driving distribution applications.
One of these was Sahara AI, a start -up that integrates blockchain and AI technology. Sahara AI allows users to maintain intellectual property rights through all chain properties and receive compensation for contributing to the infrastructure, knowledge -based and maintenance of the distributed AI.
The company has secured $ 43 million in the Series A Funding Round led by the Petera Capital, YZI Labs and Polychain Capital, and has secured $ 43 million with the participation of Samsung Nick and others.
Another notable investment was about AI startups, MyShell. The AI Startup allows you to build and share AI -based applications and give you authority to create a customizable AI solution.
In November 2024, YZI Labs participated in the scientific sector, which was invested in BIO Protocol, an accelerator program that focused on the formation of biotechnology capital. The Bio Protocol supports the vowels of distributed autonomous organizations trying to develop pharmaceuticals and treatments to save life.
But YZI Labs is expanding in a new direction, but the past of the CZ is never behind. In the blockchain -related venture, his financial support and continuous beings are still connected to the industries dealing with the fall of Binance’s legal problems.
What is CZ?
The CZ began to form the next step before he was sentenced to imprisonment for four months in March 2024. No, there is no new token. Education Project. More details are soon… ”
The next day, he released a giggle academy and described it as a free, gaming and adaptive type learning platform for students in grades 1-12. “No profits. Game shoes. He is adaptability. ” He announced that he would share a link to the concept paper of the project and hire a small team to work directly.
In September 2024, after his sentence, Zhao returned to social media with a personal update. “GM, food is so good. And it is a luxury that can have more than one fruit a day!” He gave me a glimpse of his time in prison.
In the same post, he explained the following priorities: “Giggle Academy is going well and will be a big part of my life for the next few years. We will continue to invest in blockchain/distributed technology, AI and biotechnology. I am not a return, but a long -term investor who is interested in shock. ”
Next month, in October 2024, Zhao made his first public appearance at the Binance Blockchain Week, greeting him with a room and a standing ovation. Arbitant Austin Arnold said, “The first question, how was summer?”
Zhao replied honestly, “It’s not good. Less fun than now. I think the whole experience is very limited in many ways. There is a lot of time to reflect because your freedom disappears. ”
He avoided criticizing his case directly, but he pointed out that his situation faced his situation at the settlement, but he was “the first person to be in prison for violating bank secret law” in contrast to the situation of large financial institutions, not in prison. I did it. More importantly, the CZ confirmed that there was no plan to execute other encryption exchange.
In December 2024, the CZ announced the launch of the GIGGLE Academy iOS app, inviting parents with 2-6 years of young children to expand the scope of the project.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump’s recent Mew Coin Trump (Trump) talks about the injury of the meme coins, CZ, said, “No, I don’t plan to create a current meme coin. But I think other state leaders may be thinking about it. ”
The focus on building the next chapter by CZ and YZI Labs, and the unresolved legal battles surrounding Binos continued to shadow the future.
The question is whether it is truly separated from the challenge that is truly ongoing, or whether the participation of the past will continue to follow him for the next few years.