Binance Founder Launches New Platform with $5 Million in Backing

Binance founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao is making a significant move into the prediction market sector with the launch of a new project, Opinion Labs. Backed by $5 million in funding from YZI Labs, the platform aims to directly compete with Polymarket, which has long dominated the space by allowing users to trade on the outcomes of real-world events.

Prediction markets function by letting users buy and sell shares in the likelihood of future events, from election results to cryptocurrency price targets. CZ’s entry signals a growing mainstream interest in this corner of the blockchain industry, where the assets being traded are not coins but informed opinions.

How Opinion Labs Works

Opinion Labs went live with its inaugural “Week #0” campaign, designed to attract early adopters. Users can earn points by making successful predictions and climbing a weekly leaderboard, where 100,000 points are distributed among top participants. While the platform doesn’t have a native token yet, this points system is a common strategy to build an initial user base that could later be rewarded with a token airdrop or governance rights.

The platform currently offers two main categories to appeal to a broad range of users. “Macro Markets” focus on global financial topics, such as U.S. Federal Reserve interest rate decisions and inflation trends. In contrast, “Trending Markets” cover more accessible, crypto-native questions like whether Ethereum will reach a new all-time high by a specific date. This dual approach caters to both seasoned financial analysts and casual traders.

Strong Debut Overwhelms Platform

The launch of Opinion Labs was met with immediate and intense interest. On October 25, 2025, its daily notional trading volume reached $169.2 million, surpassing Polymarket’s $163.7 million for the same period. This momentum continued, with total volume quickly climbing past $208 million.

This massive surge in traffic prompted the team to temporarily close new signups, with an announcement joking that the site couldn’t handle the explosive demand. Despite the overwhelming user influx, the platform’s network remained stable, a fact the team highlighted as a testament to its technical reliability.

The timing of the launch is notable, as the prediction market sector has seen significant growth. According to data from DefiLlama, these platforms now hold over $100 million in total value locked, a 70% increase since the beginning of 2024. With CZ’s backing and the Binance ecosystem’s potential reach, Opinion Labs is positioned to significantly disrupt the space and accelerate its growth.