YZi Labs, the Binance-founded investment firm that backs projects across the BNB ecosystem, has taken direct control of half of BNC's board after winning three of six seats in a governance settlement, positioning it to build what it describes as an institutional platform around the company's digital asset treasury strategy.
YZi Labs Ends BNC Proxy Fight After Securing Board Seats
24 June 2026 - 11:42 CEST
By Sandmark staff
The deal ends a months-long dispute between YZi and BNC, formerly CEA Industries, a listed company whose primary business is accumulating and holding BNB to give public-market investors exposure to the token – a model similar to what Strategy Inc. has pursued with Bitcoin. BNC holds the largest corporate treasury of BNB among publicly traded companies at approximately 515,000 BNB.
New board, new leadership
Under the agreement, YZi Labs Managing Partner Ella Zhang, Investment Partner Alex Odagiu and blockchain investor Matthew Roszak have joined BNC's board alongside existing directors Carly E. Howard, Annemarie Tierney and Glenn Tyranski. The two sides will jointly search for a seventh independent director with digital asset and capital markets experience.
Odagiu has been appointed interim president, reporting directly to the board, while the company conducts a CEO search focused on candidates with public company and digital asset experience. David Namdar remains chief executive during the transition.
"The next generation of digital asset treasury companies will not be defined only by what they hold, but by how thoughtfully they govern, allocate and build around those assets," Zhang said in the announcement. "For BNC, the opportunity is to translate that exposure into an institutional platform with transparency, discipline and long-term alignment."
Odagiu said BNC could serve as a "public-market vehicle for disciplined, transparent exposure" to the BNB Chain ecosystem, which he described as spanning decentralized finance, payments, stablecoins, tokenised assets and AI-native applications.
Proxy fight, settlement terms
YZi had previously sought to reshape the board through a consent solicitation campaign and had also criticized defensive measures adopted by BNC, including a shareholder rights plan commonly known as a poison pill. Under the settlement, YZi has agreed to withdraw those demands and adhere to standstill provisions.
The agreement was announced on 23 June ahead of BNC's annual stockholder meeting, scheduled for 22 July.
YZi Labs, which manages over $10bn in assets across Web3, AI and biotech, has been one of the most active backers of the BNB ecosystem, including through a $1bn Builder Fund announced last year to support projects building on BNB Chain.
