Amid a sharp stock downturn and the fading hype around its “crypto treasury” model, YZi Labs — the investment fund backed by Binance founder Changpeng Zhao — is launching an aggressive campaign to overthrow the leadership of BNB Network. The escalating conflict has quickly become one of the most intense shareholder battles in the digital asset market in 2025.
BNB Network — formerly CEA Industries, a little-known vape equipment manufacturer — became a market phenomenon in July when its stock surged more than 600% following a $500 million PIPE deal led by YZi Labs and 10X Capital. The transaction, consisting of $400 million in cash and $100 million in digital assets, paved the way for the company to become the first publicly listed crypto treasury in the U.S., modeled after Strategy but focused on BNB.
The new leadership team — including CEO David Namdar and former CalPERS CIO Russell Read — once touted this approach as a transparent, audited, institution-grade vehicle for long-term BNB exposure. But just months later, YZi Labs claims the strategy has gone badly off course.
YZi Labs lists major failures: broken strategy, chaotic governance, weak disclosures
According to its Schedule 14A filing with the SEC, YZi Labs accuses BNB Network’s leadership of numerous critical missteps:
Key allegations from YZi Labs
-
Late, incomplete, and opaque regulatory filings
-
Weak investor relations, with little to no outreach to institutional investors
-
Poor governance standards, as 10X Capital allegedly both manages assets and holds major board influence
-
CEO David Namdar allegedly diverting resources to promote other crypto treasury ventures while BNB Network remains unstable
YZi Labs currently owns about 5% of BNC shares (worth roughly $14 million) — a large enough stake to attempt a leadership “takeover” by rallying discontented shareholders affected by the plunging stock price.
YZi Labs’ plan includes:
-
Expanding the board of directors
-
Reversing recent bylaw amendments
-
Installing its own slate of directors
-
Gathering signatures from a majority of shares without calling a formal shareholder meeting
If successful, BNB Network could fall entirely under the control of YZi Labs.
BNB price slump escalates the confrontation
BNB is currently trading around $830, its lowest level in three months and far below its $1,375 all-time high from early October. This has pushed BNB Network’s reserve — roughly 515,000 BNB (worth ~$412 million, with an average cost of $851) — into an unrealized loss.
BNB’s decline has led to:
-
BNB Network’s NAV dropping to $8.09
-
BNC stock falling to $6.35, implying an mNAV of ~0.8×
-
BNC shares sliding more than 20% from their summer peak, erasing most of the initial excitement
For YZi Labs, this is clear evidence that current leadership has destroyed shareholder value.
Institutional investors turn away: governance becomes the biggest risk
According to FinanceFeeds, governance tensions have become a core factor in evaluating BNC. Institutional investors — the very audience BNB Network hoped to attract — now demand:
-
Transparency at the level of traditional financial institutions
-
Clear governance structures
-
Timely, consistent disclosures
Unfortunately for BNB Network, the company appears to be falling short on all these expectations.
