Blockchain Institutional Adoption and the AI Frontier

November 3, 2025 | Blockchain Institutional Adoption and the AI Frontier

Speakers:

• Ella Zhang (Ling Zhang) (Head, YZi Labs; Stanford GSB Alumna)
• Jing Xiong (Investment Director, AI, YZi Labs; Stanford Ph.D.)

Description: This session will cover actionable playbooks on Web3 trends and institutional adoption from Ella Zhang, including an overview of infrastructure, consumer adoption trends, how enterprises are engaging with blockchain, and a brief look at prediction markets as a form of collective intelligence. Jing Xiong will provide a deep dive into the current AI landscape, the intersection of AI and Web3, and their convergence to create new opportunities, including a look at X402, an open payment protocol for AI agents and APIs.

The speakers will also share their vision on "where the frontier is moving," detailing the founder signals YZi "loves (and avoids)," such as taste, execution, and mission. Finally, the session will explain how to work with YZi, including how to contact the team, share a deck, or apply for incubation/grants, and describe what an effective first touch looks like: traction artifacts, customer proof, a safety/ethics frame, and a crisp milestone plan.

Speaker Biographies:

• Ella Zhang (Ling Zhang) is a Kleiner Perkins‑trained investor and early builder. Ella founded Binance Labs and is now building YZi Labs with CZ. She has co-founded two AI startups (supply chain & customer service). Ella backs visionary founders who execute, bringing a value‑investing lens (and a soft spot for Munger’s wisdom—minus the crypto skepticism). YZi Labs is a global, multi-stage investor across Web3, AI, and biotech, with a portfolio spanning 300+ projects.
• Jing Xiong is the Investment Director (AI) at YZi Labs, focusing on AI and its intersections with biotech and Web3. She was formerly at Google, working on Gemini trust & safety and Google Lens modeling. Jing holds a Ph.D. from Stanford in computer vision and neuroscience.