Famous Investors Who Back BNB

Binance Coin (BNB) started as a utility token for a nascent exchange and — in fewer than ten years — grew into one of the world’s largest crypto assets with a broad set of corporate, institutional and ecosystem backers. This article walks through the most notable individuals, family offices, corporate treasury buyers and institutional players who have publicly backed BNB or built businesses that routinely buy, hold, or support it. Along the way we’ll explain how they backed BNB (direct purchases, treasuries, family-office programs, or ecosystem investments) and what their involvement means for BNB’s adoption and risk profile.

Quick refresher: how BNB began (short and important)

BNB was launched via an initial coin offering (ICO) in late June–July 2017. Binance sold 100 million BNB at roughly $0.15 each, raising about $15 million (the total supply at launch was 200 million; 40% went to the founding team and 10% to angel investors). The funds were used to build the exchange, marketing and reserves — and the token later migrated from ERC-20 to Binance’s own chains (BNB Chain). Binance Corporate Finance Institute

Founders & insiders — the original and most visible backers

Changpeng “CZ” Zhao

As Binance’s founder and most public face, CZ’s support of BNB is foundational. Beyond founding Binance, CZ’s family office and associated entities have at times been active supporters of initiatives that concentrate on BNB and the Binance ecosystem. In practical terms, the founder’s involvement offers both direct credibility and, depending on corporate actions, tangible demand-side support for the token. Wikipedia Cointelegraph

Yi He

Co-founder Yi He — who later took a lead role heading Binance Labs (the venture and incubation arm) — is another core insider whose work has strengthened the BNB ecosystem through investments, incubations and strategic partnerships. Binance Labs helps grow projects that run on BNB Chain, indirectly increasing utility and demand for the token. Axios Chain Broker

Why this matters: founders and insiders aren’t simply “investors” in the market sense — they control infrastructure, token burns, platform incentives, and close relationships that shape the token’s long-term utility.

Binance Labs and affiliated venture vehicles

Binance Labs

Binance Labs is the exchange’s VC and incubator arm. Its mission is explicitly to fund and incubate projects that build on Binance’s infrastructure (including BNB Chain). That makes Binance Labs a structural backer: it grows the use cases for BNB through investments and incubations, which in turn can support token utility and on-chain activity. Binance Labs’ portfolio and activity therefore function as a sustained, institutionalized form of backing for BNB’s ecosystem. Chain Broker

YZi Labs (CZ family office) and related vehicles

More recently, family offices tied to Binance founders — for example YZi Labs, affiliated with CZ and Yi He — have been named as backers for BNB-focused treasury initiatives and funds. That type of backing is notable because family offices can move quickly and make concentrated bets that materially affect supply/demand dynamics. Cointelegraph CoinDesk

Corporate treasuries & public companies buying BNB

2024–2025 brought a wave of companies announcing plans to hold cryptocurrencies in corporate treasuries; BNB became a target for several public and private firms trying to provide institutions and retail traders with an on-ramp to BNB exposure.

Nano Labs (publicly announced buy program)

Nano Labs, a Hong Kong-based tech/chip maker listed on Nasdaq (ticker NA), publicly announced plans to raise capital and buy up to $1 billion of BNB for its corporate reserves. Nano Labs began with an initial purchase (reported $50M) and signaled a long-term intent to hold between roughly 5–10% of circulating supply depending on execution. These kinds of large corporate treasury plans are important because they create concentrated, headline-driving demand that can move markets and attract attention to token economics. CoinDesk+1

CEA Industries and other “treasury vehicle” announcements

Smaller public companies — sometimes in surprising industries — have announced plans to create publicly traded vehicles that hold BNB as their primary treasury asset. For example, CEA Industries made headlines for announcing steps toward launching a BNB treasury vehicle and raising substantial PIPE funds. These corporate treasury declarations have produced meme-style rallies in some stocks and shifted narratives about how institutional money can get BNB exposure. Business Insider Yahoo Finance

Why this matters: When public companies declare big allocations, they offer a transparent way for institutional/retail investors to get BNB exposure indirectly. That can increase demand and institutional legitimacy — but it also introduces new counterparty and regulatory risks (company governance, securities law, accounting treatment).

Specialized BNB investment vehicles and funds

B Strategy (BNB-focused treasury firm)

A wave of asset managers and treasury firms formed around 2025 with the specific mandate to hold and invest in BNB or BNB-ecosystem projects. One such vehicle — often reported as being launched or backed by ex-Bitmain executives and with support from Binance-adjacent family offices — aimed to raise institutional capital specifically for BNB. These firms attempt to professionalize BNB exposure, offering active strategies or treasury management for institutional investors. CoinDesk TradingView

Why this matters: Dedicated funds consolidate market demand into professional vehicles and can provide liquidity and on-chain support (node staking, grants, ecosystem development), but they also concentrate exposure risk in a few large players.

Institutional players & asset managers (indirect involvement)

Large mainstream asset managers and index providers have historically concentrated on Bitcoin and Ethereum, yet some institutions have expressly considered or listed BNB as an asset under review for products or investment consideration. For example, Grayscale included BNB among assets “under consideration” for future products, signalling that mainstream asset managers were at least evaluating the token as of mid-2025. While this is not a direct open purchase, it’s an important sign of institutional legitimacy. grayscale.com

Caveat: At the time of writing, the primary institutional push has centered on Bitcoin and Ethereum; BNB’s path to broad institutional inclusion typically runs through product sponsors, custodians and regulatory clearance (which varies by jurisdiction).

Early angel investors and ICO participants

BNB’s ICO allocation included a 10% tranche marked for angel investors. Names of individual angels who took part in the 2017 sale are not all public, but that allocation represents a set of early, high-conviction backers who received tokens at ICO prices and helped bootstrap liquidity and market depth when Binance launched. The presence of these early backers — plus the founders’ sizable allocations — provided the seed capital and network effects Binance needed in its first months. CoinCodex Corporate Finance Institute

Crypto personalities & exchange ecosystem allies (support vs ownership)

Many well-known crypto investors and entrepreneurs have publicly supported or praised Binance or BNB at various times; however, public endorsement is not the same as an equity or treasury investment. Care is required here: it’s easy to conflate a tweet of support or an early partnership with a direct financial stake. Where we have clear public evidence of purchases or vehicle-level backing (e.g., Nano Labs, family offices, B Strategy), we’ve cited it. For general celebrity or VC interest in cryptocurrencies overall, the patterns matter more than individual social posts. (See earlier sections for the confirmed institutional and corporate buyers.) Binance+1

What this group of backers means for BNB’s prospects

Demand channels are diversified. Between founders/insiders, dedicated funds, corporate treasuries, and venture arms that build the ecosystem, demand for BNB is not solely retail-driven. That diversity can be stabilizing — but only to a point. Chain Broker CoinDesk
Headline buyers can move markets. A single large announcement (e.g., a public company saying it will buy hundreds of millions of dollars of BNB) can create intense short-term price effects and attract speculative flows. The Nano Labs and CEA headlines are examples. CoinDesk Business Insider
Ecosystem investors increase utility, not just price. Binance Labs and other incubators invest in applications that drive on-chain usage (DeFi, NFTs, games, infra). That type of backing helps token utility and long-term adoption more than a pure treasury holding would. Chain Broker
Regulatory concentration risk. Because many of the most visible backers are closely tied to Binance, regulatory actions affecting the exchange or its leadership can ripple through the token’s market. Large corporate treasuries also introduce traditional corporate governance and compliance considerations into the token’s narrative. Wikipedia CoinDesk

Known controversies and sensible precautions

Founder concentration: Significant influence by a token’s founding team can bring alignment but also centralization concerns. Investors should understand token allocation, governance mechanics, and the role of treasury or family-office holdings. Binance
Market headlines and pump risk: Some corporate treasury announcements have had meme-stock effects; those moves sometimes create short-term volatility that later reverses. Business Insider
Regulatory sensitivity: Because Binance as a company has faced regulatory scrutiny in multiple jurisdictions, developments that affect the exchange are often relevant to the token’s risk profile. Diversified backing mitigates but does not eliminate this linkage. Wikipedia

Takeaway: who really “backs” BNB?

“Backing” BNB means different things depending on the actor:

Founders & insiders (CZ, Yi He, Binance entities): structural and operational backing — they built the rails and repeatedly invest in ecosystem growth. Wikipedia Axios
Venture arms (Binance Labs): strategic backing by funding projects that increase BNB utility. Chain Broker
Family offices & specialized funds (Yzi Labs, B Strategy): financial backing that can concentrate capital behind BNB initiatives. CoinDesk Cointelegraph
Corporate treasuries / public companies (Nano Labs, CEA, others): headline purchases and treasuries that bring BNB into corporate balance sheets and public markets. CoinDesk Business Insider
Institutions evaluating BNB (Grayscale and similar): signals of institutional interest that may later produce formal products or custody vehicles.