BNB Chain opens applications for EASY Residency Season 4 with $500K funding and a Bhutan base camp

If your idea of a startup accelerator involves a WeWork in San Francisco and lukewarm coffee, BNB Chain would like a word. EASY Residency Season 4 is now accepting applications, and this time, selected builders will relocate to Gelephu Mindfulness City in Bhutan, a sovereign tech hub nestled in the Himalayas.

Applications opened on May 22 and close June 21 at 23:59 GMT-7. The program runs 10 weeks: five weeks online, followed by five weeks on the ground in Bhutan with housing, meals, and workspace covered. Selected teams can receive up to $500K in funding through YZi Labs’ Builder Fund.

What the program actually offers

EASY Residency Season 4 is run by YZi Labs, the entity formerly known as Binance Labs. YZi Labs now integrates its Most Valuable Builder (MVB) accelerator track directly into the residency framework, creating a pipeline that funnels early-stage projects from application through mentorship to potential funding.

The backing comes from YZi Labs’ $1 billion Builder Fund, which targets BNB Chain projects. Individual teams can tap up to $500K per project for early-stage founders working in Web3, AI, or biotech.

Season 4 is the first global cohort that will physically live and build inside Gelephu Mindfulness City. GMC is Bhutan’s experiment in creating a purpose-built city oriented toward blockchain, AI, and frontier technologies.

Previous seasons operated with more conventional setups. Season 3 produced projects focused on AI agents and privacy technologies.

Why Bhutan, and why now

BNB Chain’s ecosystem claims to support a user base of over 460 million. That’s the distribution carrot dangling in front of applicants. Building on a chain with that kind of reach gives founders a potential go-to-market advantage that smaller ecosystems simply can’t match.

What this means for builders and investors

The $500K per team figure is meaningful in context. It’s enough to fund a small team through a year of development without requiring founders to spend half their time fundraising. Backed by a $1 billion fund, YZi Labs has the capacity to write follow-on checks for standout projects, creating a flywheel that keeps promising teams within the BNB Chain ecosystem.

Applications close June 21, so founders have roughly a month to decide if they want to build their next project from a mindfulness city in the Himalayas.

Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.