- YZi Labs invests in Genius to enable private, high-speed on-chain trading.
- Ghost Orders target large trades without market exposure.
- GENIUS token and boosted airdrops are set for April 12, 2026.
Changpeng Zhao’s YZi Labs is making a big bet on the future of crypto trading by backing Genius Terminal, a new on-chain digital asset trading platform. This strategic investment is seen as a move to bridge the gap between decentralized trading and centralized experiences.
Centralized exchanges (CEXs) often provide seamless and trustworthy trading experiences. While more trading activity shifts towards decentralized platforms, traders are also looking for faster procedures and better privacy. This situation reportedly makes Genius Terminal a better choice. The platform aims to bring together the CEX-like performance and the uniqueness of DEX trading.
Genius Gets CZ’s Backing
YZi Labs announced its support for Genius Terminal, a novel cryptocurrency trading platform. The project is backed by Binance founder Changpeng Zhao as an advisor. Combining the efficiency of centralized exchanges with the principles of decentralization, Genius aligns with the vision of YZi Labs.
Commenting on the YZi Labs’ investment in Genius, CEO Armaan Kalsi noted,
“The funding is about alignment more than anything else; aligning with YZi Labs means we have the industry’s most thorough and well-resourced backer taking a meaningful swing at creating an ‘on-chain’ Binance, while focusing on what makes CEXs better than DEXs right now: privacy.”
As decentralized trading gains increased momentum over centralized platforms, traders are largely exposed to transparency issues. Traders are forced to execute large orders without exposing their intentions to the market. Genius Terminal intends to address this issue by unifying liquidity across BNB Chain, Solana, Ethereum, and six additional networks, prioritizing both speed and privacy.
YZi Labs Head Ella Zhang remains vocal about her first encounter with Genius and its founder, Armaan. She stated that the founder demonstrated the qualities of a strong founder; she described him as sharp, logical, and articulate.
Zhang added, “He has the distinct traits of a founder who’s going to win: sharp, logical, and articulate. I pulled him aside from the crowd after his demo – and found out he understood deeply what he’s building, and later we were even more impressed seeing the advanced version of Genius.”
Unveiling the Privacy-First Execution
Notably, the platform sets itself apart with its proprietary “Ghost Order” mechanism. The project uses the Multi-Party Communication (MPC) to create temporary clusters of wallets that can be coordinated in parallel.
This approach ensures privacy as large traders can deploy sophisticated strategies across hundreds of addresses without exposing funding details. It also enables the maintenance of cryptographic verifiability. The project also remains fully non-custodial, allowing users to retain complete control of their private keys. Unveiling the platform’s vision, YZi Labs investment partner Alex Odagiu stated,
“The next phase of DeFi is about execution and privacy. Genius is building a unified, high-performance trading layer that delivers deep liquidity, fast routing, and privacy-enabled execution – allowing professional and power users to operate on-chain with the same efficiency and discretion they expect in traditional markets.”
GENIUS Token Launch and Airdrop Details
Coinciding with this strategic development, Genius Terminal has announced the launch of its own GENIUS token. The token will reportedly be released on April 12, 2026, with the conclusion of Season 1.
Alongside the token debut, the platform plans to increase airdrop allocations and point values by 50% to encourage greater user participation. The move also focuses on driving wider market engagement. The firm has also published details of its official airdrop and points whitepaper.
