EASY Residency

4D Labs

2026-09-11 10:14:14

4D Labs receives investment from YZi Labs through EASY Residency Season 2

4D Labs, a real-world embodied data layer protocol for physical AI, has received investment from YZi Labs through EASY Residency Season 2, according to an official announcement cited by BlockBeats on Sept. 11. Publicly available project information describes 4D Labs as an infrastructure company for spatial intelligence foundation models operating at the intersection of AI, 3D and Web3. The company says its core mission is to address what it calls the most fundamental bottleneck of the spatial computing era: the lack of high-quality 3D data that can scale, be verified, and carry provable ownership. The announcement did not disclose the size of the investment or other deal terms.

940

Bhutan

2026-09-10 09:29:20

Founders Back From Bhutan Say EASY Residency S4 Changed How They Think About Building

Biteye hosted an online AMA on Sept. 2 featuring founders and participants who had just returned from Bhutan after the EASY Residency S4 program. Across the discussion, speakers described how five weeks of living and building together in Thimphu created a different rhythm from New York or Silicon Valley: fewer distractions, tighter relationships, and more room to rethink product direction, collaboration, and long-term conviction. They also spoke about the practical difficulties of building there, including unstable internet, limited infrastructure, and the challenge of handling B2B work remotely. Several founders said YZi Labs helped with customer introductions, strategic focus, access to BNB Chain ecosystem resources, and credibility in front of partners. The AMA also covered application advice for future cohorts, what investors look for in teams and products, how Demo Day pitches were compressed into three minutes, and what changed materially for projects by the end of the five-week program. Jeffrey of YZi Labs added that, according to the plan at the time, applications for S5 were set to close on Sept. 13, with an online phase followed by an in-person stage in Thailand and a Demo Day expected to be close to Binance Blockchain Week in Bangkok in late November.

470

YZi Labs

2026-09-08 08:30:47

YZi Labs' EASY Residency Season 4 Selects 24 Projects, Each Receives $500K Investment

YZi Labs has announced the selection of 24 early-stage projects for EASY Residency Season 4. Each project receives a $500,000 investment and participates in a 10-week incubation program. The teams focus on stablecoin payments, on-chain forex, institutional-grade market infrastructure, privacy, credit, and AI-native execution. Founders of the selected projects gathered and collaborated in Bhutan.

1770

YZi Labs

2026-09-02 05:25:32

YZi Labs’ latest residency class revives a bigger question: is it really a top-tier crypto VC?

YZi Labs unveiled the final cohort for the fourth season of EASY Residency on Aug. 26, selecting 24 early-stage projects that can each receive up to $500,000, with roughly $12 million allocated for the season. The batch is heavily tilted toward stablecoin payments, cross-border settlement, on-chain FX, credit, digital banking, institutional liquidity, AI agents, and on-chain asset management, with “global payments” named as a central investment theme. The article argues that the new cohort highlights a broader shift in how YZi Labs wants to be seen. The firm, which manages more than $1 billion and retains deep ties to Binance through its history and network, has money, reach, and distribution. RootData shows it completed 34 investment rounds over the past year, second only to Coinbase Venture. Still, raw activity does not settle the harder question of whether YZi Labs can consistently spot category leaders before the market does. According to the piece, YZi Labs has been effective at backing projects once demand is visible and then helping them scale through exchange-era advantages, BNB Chain access, and Binance-linked networks. But that same model may also define its limits. The commentary points to missed names in prediction markets and payments, a public dispute tied to the BNB Treasury Company plan with 10X Capital, and a team profile shaped by finance, consulting, and exchange growth rather than deep on-chain product instinct. The test ahead is not how many deals YZi Labs can do, but whether it can develop conviction independent of Binance and identify the next wave before consensus forms.

660

YZi Labs

2026-08-28 02:09:54

Nine EASY Residency Season 4 startups already have live user touchpoints

YZi Labs on Aug. 25 unveiled the 24 startups selected for Season 4 of EASY Residency, its incubation program for early founders in Web3, AI and biotech. Each company will receive a $500,000 investment. In coverage of the cohort, Odaily identified nine names that already offer some form of participation path for users, ranging from points campaigns and waitlist applications to product trials and onchain deposits. The list includes Neutral Trade, Primus, Roostoo, SmartX, Alloco, XHunt, Nara, ElfomoFi and Liquorice. Among them, Neutral Trade has a live points system tied to its Autopilot Deposit campaign, while Primus has launched a Kaito Warm Up content campaign with an $8,000 reward pool. Other projects are at earlier stages, such as waitlist sign-ups, Telegram community access, browser extension usage or deposit-only product access without a points program. Odaily said the projects were ordered by the current number of tasks users can complete.

1920

YZi Labs

2026-08-27 10:24:00

YZi Labs’ 24 new EASY Residency bets: which projects offer early retail interaction?

YZi Labs has unveiled 24 new early-stage investments from the fourth season of EASY Residency, with each company receiving $500,000 through the incubation program. In a PANews market analysis piece, columnist Lianjin Shushu sorted the list from a retail user’s perspective rather than an institutional investment one. The screening focused on three questions: whether a project has a public-facing entry point, whether current participation can leave a measurable on-chain or account record, and whether the team has introduced user incentives such as points, rewards, competitions, or referrals. Based on that framework, the article highlighted Neutral Trade, Primus, Roostoo, SmartX, and Alloco as the most notable projects for early interaction. Neutral Trade was described as the clearest case because its Neutral Autopilot already ties deposits to NT Points, including a 2x points campaign. Primus was singled out for its Kaito Warm Up Campaign, which runs from Aug. 25 to Sept. 8 with an 8,000 USDC reward pool. Roostoo, while not yet offering a confirmed token or point system, has opened waitlist, mock trading, and competition features that could make user activity easy to track. The analysis also noted that Nara, ElfomoFi, Liquorice, and XHunt are already usable but do not currently show clear point or airdrop structures. The author closed with a caution that points do not guarantee a token, and YZi Labs’ investment does not mean an airdrop is assured.

1800

YZi Labs

2026-08-26 04:19:53

YZi Labs names 24 startups for Season 4 of EASY Residency

YZi Labs has released the full cohort for Season 4 of EASY Residency, its flagship incubation program for early-stage founders in Web3, AI, and biotech. The new batch includes 24 companies, with each receiving a $500,000 investment. The 10-week program starts online before founders gather in Bhutan for an in-person build phase. According to YZi Labs, this season centers on next-generation global financial infrastructure. The selected teams are working across stablecoin payments, onchain foreign exchange, credit, institutional market structure, privacy, compliance, financial operations, AI agents, and automated execution. The firm said the cohort reflects its view of where global payments, onchain markets, and “agentic finance” are headed: more programmable, more localized, more compliance-aware, and more deeply embedded in everyday financial workflows. Among the companies named are projects building stablecoin banking rails for cross-border trade, tokenized hedge fund infrastructure, confidential onchain finance tools for institutions, AI-driven execution and trading agents, crypto-to-fiat settlement systems, and middleware that lets users spend directly from yield-bearing stablecoin balances. YZi Labs also said it manages more than $10 billion in assets globally and has backed more than 300 projects across 25 countries on six continents.

1290

YZi Labs

2026-08-25 12:43:36

YZi Labs picks 24 early-stage startups for Season 4 of EASY Residency

YZi Labs has named 24 early-stage companies to the fourth season of its flagship incubation program, EASY Residency, with each startup set to receive a $500,000 investment. The 10-week program will begin online before founders gather in Bhutan later in the season. According to the announcement, this cohort is centered on next-generation global financial infrastructure, spanning stablecoin payments, on-chain foreign exchange, institutional-grade market infrastructure, privacy, credit, and AI-native execution. The selected teams work across a range of themes, including stablecoin payments and cross-border settlement, on-chain FX, credit and new banking models, institutional liquidity and market making, privacy compliance and financial operations for digital assets, AI agents and automated execution, on-chain financial consumer and enterprise interfaces, as well as AI-native security and creator infrastructure. YZi Labs said it manages more than $10 billion in assets, and that its portfolio includes more than 300 projects across Web3, AI, and biotech.

1340