by Coinstrooper Crypto Articles
Quick Take
  • In a post on X, CZ said Jeff Yan, the founder of Hyperliquid, participated in Binance Labs’ first incubation cohort in 2018 through a startup called YZiLabs.
  • The project, which focused on a decentralized prediction market called Deaux, eventually failed, and Binance Labs did not recover its investment.
  • CZ said he had little interaction with Jeff at the time and only learned about the connection earlier this year.
  • “If you didn’t know, Jeff (Hyperliquid) was part of the YZiLabs (Binance Labs back then) incubation season 1 cohort in 2018.

What Happened

Binance founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) has addressed growing speculation that Binance may have ties to the fast-growing decentralized exchange Hyperliquid, confirming that while the platform’s founder was once part of a Binance Labs incubation program, there are no current investment links between the two.

The project, which focused on a decentralized prediction market called Deaux, eventually failed, and Binance Labs did not recover its investment. CZ said he had little interaction with Jeff at the time and only learned about the connection earlier this year.

YZiLabs did not recoup any of its investment,” CZ wrote. He added that YZiLabs holds no equity or tokens in Hyperliquid and emphasized that Binance supports all builders in the space.

Hyperliquid, launched on its own layer-1 blockchain, has emerged as one of DeFi’s most active perpetuals trading platforms. In July 2025 alone, it processed about $319 billion in trading volume, according to DefiLlama data, the highest monthly figure since its launch.

Market Context

Jeff’s earlier project, Deaux, aimed to simplify decentralized prediction markets, an idea that later evolved into the foundation of Hyperliquid’s community-driven model.

The surge contributed to a record $487 billion in total DeFi perpetuals volume that month.

The platform’s structure diverges from the automated market maker model that dominates most decentralized exchanges.

Founder Jeff Yan has described the project as self-funded, rejecting venture capital to maintain independence and community alignment.

Decentralized exchange Hyperliquid has continued to erode Binance’s dominance in crypto derivatives trading, with its trading activity now reaching 13.6% of Binance’s volume, up from 8% at the start of the year.

The exchange now holds roughly 70% of the total decentralized perpetuals market, according to DeFiLlama and Token Terminal data. Its native token, HYPE, recently hit an all-time high of $59.29, bringing its market cap close to $16 billion.

The rise of decentralized perpetual exchanges (perp DEXs) has been rapid. Combined trading volume across the sector reached $1.22 trillion in September, a 48% jump from August.

Why It Matters

In a post on X, CZ said Jeff Yan, the founder of Hyperliquid, participated in Binance Labs’ first incubation cohort in 2018 through a startup called YZiLabs.

“If you didn’t know, Jeff (Hyperliquid) was part of the YZiLabs (Binance Labs back then) incubation season 1 cohort in 2018. Unfortunately, that project failed.

Details

Hyperliquid’s Founder Once Part of Binance Incubator, CZ Confirms No Ongoing Ties

The post followed circulating photos from 2018 showing Jeff alongside other YZiLabs members, which fueled speculation of a deeper link between Hyperliquid and Binance.

Built entirely on-chain, Hyperliquid operates through two tightly linked components: HyperCore, which handles order books, margin, and liquidations; and HyperEVM, a smart-contract layer sharing consensus and data with the exchange core.

Its HotStuff-based HyperBFT consensus enables sub-second trade execution, achieving median latency of just 0.2 seconds, performance that rivals centralized exchanges.

Instead, it maintains on-chain order books and matching systems, combining transparency with the speed typically seen in centralized venues.

Hyperliquid’s core team is believed to consist of just 11 members.

The team’s rapid response to outages, including a July incident that led to $1.99 million in trader reimbursements within a day, has drawn attention to its tight operational discipline.

While CZ clarified that Binance has no financial stake in Hyperliquid, his comments shed light on the shared history between Binance Labs’ early incubation efforts and the builders now leading some of DeFi’s most prominent projects.

Hyperliquid Emerges as Binance’s Strongest Decentralized Challenger

The shift highlights how decentralized perpetual futures platforms are gaining traction as viable alternatives to centralized exchanges.

Hyperliquid has processed over $200 billion in recent months, driven by new cross-chain features that support assets across multiple blockchains, including Bitcoin.