YZi Labs Invests $135M in Digital Asset for Blockchain Expansion

YZi Labs, the family office of former Binance CEO Changpeng (CZ) Zhao and Binance co-founder Yi He, has invested in Digital Asset, the developer of the institutional blockchain platform Canton Network. This investment is part of a $135 million Series E round that includes participation from major financial institutions such as Goldman Sachs, Citadel Securities, DRW, and the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC).

CZ described the investment as a move to "merge Wall Street and blockchain," highlighting the alignment of a major crypto-native fund with established financial entities. The capital infusion is directed towards expanding the Canton Network, a platform designed to facilitate the tokenization of real-world assets for regulated financial institutions. The network aims to resolve the challenge of enabling blockchain operations while adhering to strict privacy and compliance mandates.

The Canton Network functions as a public Layer 1 with configurable privacy, offering an alternative to transparent public ledgers and siloed, private blockchains. It allows institutions to set specific privacy controls, addressing the conflict between financial confidentiality and the interoperability benefits of a shared ledger. The network has demonstrated substantial activity, supporting over $1.5 trillion in monthly tokenized U.S. Treasury repo volume and involving nearly 400 participants from both decentralized and traditional finance sectors.

Ella Zhang, Head of YZi Labs, commented on the firm’s involvement, stating, “Through this investment, YZi Labs is proud to support the mission of bringing tokenized real-world assets into the financial mainstream, and to contribute to the broader goal of advancing global institutional adoption.” This investment is seen as a move to foster the foundational infrastructure required for merging traditional financial assets with blockchain technology.

Digital Asset’s leadership also commented on the collaboration, with Yuval Rooz, Co-Founder and CEO of Digital Asset, stating, “This investment from YZi Labs reinforces the growing demand for blockchain infrastructure that meets the rigorous standards of global financial markets.” Rooz added that YZi Labs’ background in Web3 infrastructure and scaling emerging technologies makes it a suitable partner as Canton expands its reach. The stated goal for the capital is to enhance the Canton Network’s infrastructure, streamline the onboarding of new institutions, and support the interoperability required to manage a higher volume of real-world assets.

Over the next 12 to 18 months, the company plans for additional live deployments from major financial institutions and expansion into new global markets. The investment underscores the growing interest in blockchain technology among traditional financial institutions and the potential for tokenized real-world assets to revolutionize the financial landscape.