Beyond the meme craze, the crypto industry is still investing in actual projects, and Binance Labs’ investment trends are also attracting attention.
Yesterday, Binance Labs announced its investment in BIO Protocol, a decentralized science (DeSci)-related protocol. This is also the first time Binance Labs has invested in a project in the DeSci track, and BIO Protocol has also become the center of attention.
However, things seem to be on track.
Although CZ has gradually faded away from Binance, when it faced legal issues in the first half of the year, it also mentioned in a letter to the judge:
"I feel that current medical research is too profit-driven... I want to help fund small research labs. Over the past few years, I have spoken with many biotech startups in the industry."
Paying attention to the medical and scientific industries was the thinking of key figures in Binance, which more or less affected the investment department's focus perspective and decision-making inertia.
So, what exactly is BIO Protocol, and what makes it unique enough to attract Binance Labs’ investment?
Image source: Shenchao TechFlow
An incubator for decentralized science
In fact, in Binance Labs’ document announcing its investment in BIO, the essence of BIO has been named—“the scientific version of Y Combinator on the chain.”
Y Combinator is a well-known technology startup incubator that provides early-stage startups with funding, guidance, and resources to help them grow and develop quickly.
The so-called scientific version on the chain refers to the scientific research and funding process using blockchain technology. "On-chain" means that these activities and transactions are conducted on the blockchain, which is transparent and decentralized.
Image source: Shenchao TechFlow
If compared to Y Combinator, then a rough function point of BIO Protocol can be:
Incubation capabilities: Like Y Combinator, which incubates tech startups, BIO Protocol provides support and resources for scientific research projects.
Financial support: Through blockchain technology, BIO can more easily raise funds for scientific research projects.
Community engagement: Allowing scientists, patients and investors around the world to participate in and support research projects.
Accelerate development: Help scientific research projects grow rapidly, similar to Y Combinator’s acceleration of the development of startup companies.
Innovative model: Introduce new scientific research funding and commercialization models to break the limitations of traditional scientific research funding.
How are the above functions implemented? This involves the core design of BIO Protocol.
From the more common perspective of encryption projects, the essence of BIO Protocol is a curation and liquidity protocol for the decentralized science (DeSci) industry. Its design concept is derived from the team’s previous successful experiences in Molecule (a tokenization platform for early-stage biomedical projects) and VitaDAO (the largest decentralized community for longevity science).
The BIO protocol mainly includes the following core components:
1. BioDAO: sub-DAO focusing on different specific scientific or medical research
BioDAO members pool resources (data, capital, labor) to accelerate R&D and develop new intellectual property by leveraging the power of a globally distributed collective of stakeholders (e.g., patients, scientists, and biotech builders).
BioDAO raises funds through token sales and uses its funds to support and develop biotech projects related to its mission, creating shared intellectual property ownership among its members.
Image source: Shenchao TechFlow
At present, BIO officials have also announced some successful cases of DAO. Some of these DAOs have also connected with universities, research institutions and pharmaceutical companies in the real world, successfully demonstrating the effectiveness of this model:
Image source: Shenchao TechFlow
2. Curation system
Adopt a token pledge mechanism and select and support high-quality biotechnology projects through a combination of community voting and professional evaluation.
Specifically, BIO token holders can manage which bioDAOs are accepted into the BIO network by staking BIO tokens on the bioDAOs they wish to accept.
BioDAO voted into the network will receive funding through the BIO Launchpad, as well as token liquidity support, incentives and other acceleration services from the community.
Image source: Shenchao TechFlow
3. Liquidity and IP
Provide tokenization solutions for biotechnology IP to tokenize these IPs (such as NFT and FT forms); at the same time, establish a secondary market trading mechanism to achieve liquidity in scientific research project investments.
Among them, intellectual property tokens ("IP-Tokens" or "IPT") represent part of the governance rights for the generated intellectual property (IP). These tokens give holders the opportunity to directly participate in the development, decision-making and future direction of research.
Image source: Shenchao TechFlow
BioDAO develops and takes ownership of IP tokens. Each BioDAO typically holds a portfolio of IP tokens, representing intellectual property related to the BioDAO's specific scientific research industry. For example, VitaDAO developed and owns stakes in IPT VitaRNA and VITA-FAST.
When someone acquires an IP Token, they receive a stake in the IP resulting from the research, which includes patents on new compounds, proprietary screening systems, and possibly even treatments.
However, unlike other NFT profit sharing models, IP Token does not give holders the right to obtain guaranteed financial returns or revenue sharing from the commercialization of these assets, but to obtain benefits in real-life scientific research, such as:
Get exclusive information, you can receive the latest information and detailed reports on intellectual property research and development progress, and gain early or priority access to intellectual property-related innovation, cooperation or future opportunities, etc.
4. Incentive mechanism (Bio/Acc Rewards)
Design a special acceleration reward mechanism to encourage early participants and contributors to promote the rapid development of the ecosystem.
Bio/Acc Rewards provides bioDAO with rewards in the form of BIO tokens for achieving key milestones. In fact, in layman's terms, both toB and toC are stimulated at the same time, as long as they complete the following events:
For institutions and research organizations: conduct initial token auctions through BIO Launchpad, fund science (IP-Token issuance), bring considerable revenue from consumer product releases, and conduct decentralized clinical trials, etc.
For general users: contribute to clinical trials or self-reported health data, use bioDAO products (such as certain pharmaceutical supplies) and purchase bioDAO products in online/offline stores, etc.
Token Economics and Auction Analysis
The native token of the BIO protocol is $BIO, deployed on Ethereum.
Contract address: 0xcb1592591996765Ec0eFc1f92599A19767ee5ffA
1. Holders can participate in key decisions of the agreement, including:
Choose and support bioDAOs that join the BIO Network
Decide on the terms of participation in bioDAO and its IP token sale
Provide support and discounts for bioDAO’s health products/services
Governance in member bioDAO
Decide on the issuance of BIO tokens, treasury allocation and protocol upgrades
As bioDAO in the BIO network grows and IP assets increase in value, BIO token holders may benefit. The BIO treasury accumulates value through various mechanisms, including token allocations and protocol-owned liquidity (POL) obtained from incubated bioDAOs.
In terms of token supply, the total initial supply is 3,320,000,000 BIO, with the following characteristics:
Current status: Non-transferable (currently not available for trading in the secondary market)
Maximum supply: No upper limit, additional issuance may be decided through governance voting in the future
Additional issuance mechanism: New token contracts need to be deployed to replace the current BIO tokens
In terms of token distribution, community (total 56%):
Community airdrop (6%): 199,200,000 BIO
Community Auction (20%): 664,000,000 BIO
Ecosystem incentives (25%): 830,000,000 BIO
Molecule Ecosystem Fund (5%): 166,000,000 BIO
Other allocations are as follows:
Core Contributors (21.2%): 703,840,000 BIO
Investors (13.6%): 451,520,000 BIO
Molecule（5%）：166,000,000 BIO
Consultants (4.2%): 139,440,000 BIO
Image source: Shenchao TechFlow
Each category has its specific unlocking schedule:
Community Airdrop:
Public airdrop part: no lock-up
bioDAO and Genesis members: 6-year linear unlock after 1-year cliff
Community Auction: 50% available immediately, 50% unlocked linearly over 1 year
Ecosystem incentives: no lock-in
Core Contributors: 1 year lock-in period, followed by 6 years of linear unlocking
Molecule Ecosystem Fund: 4 years of linear unlocking
Molecule: 4-year linear unlock
Investors: 4 years of linear unlocking after 1 year lock-up period
Consultants: 6 years linear unlocking after 1 year lock-in period
Image source: Shenchao TechFlow
At the same time, the BIO protocol adopts a two-round Genesis auction mechanism for Token launch.
Genesis is the launch plan of the BIO protocol that aims to distribute initial tokens through auctions and raise funds for the protocol. The program is divided into two rounds, each with its own specific goals and mechanics.
The first round used a British auction mechanism, with participants using ETH to bid. The main purpose of this auction round is to build the initial community, discover the market price of BIO tokens and raise initial funds for the protocol.
The first round has been successfully completed and BIO is currently in the second round of the Genesis program. This round uses a Dutch auction mechanism, allocating a total of 12.75% of the token supply; as of the latest news, the second round of auctions is underway, and most of the auctions have been completed, with only a few still in progress.
Image source: Shenchao TechFlow
Interested investors can participate in the auction through BIO’s official platform. Participants need to connect their wallet first and then choose to participate in the auction of the bioDAO asset pool or the Ethereum pool according to their interests. (Shenchao Note: This is only for linking and information compilation and does not constitute investment advice, please DYOR)
Upon completion of the auction, participants will receive BIO tokens, 50% of which are immediately available and the other 50% are unlocked linearly within one year. This mechanism is designed to balance immediate liquidity with long-term holding incentives.
In addition to the Genesis Auction, BIO has designed a comprehensive airdrop program designed to reward early backers and grow the community. Here are the main features of the airdrop program:
The BIO airdrop program allocates 6% of the total supply, approximately 199,200,000 BIO tokens. This number is quite considerable and shows the importance the project attaches to community building.
Airdrops are mainly targeted at three types of groups:
Public airdrop: open to early users of the Molecule platform, life science-related DAO members, etc.
bioDAO airdrop: specifically for bioDAO that has joined the BIO network
Creation Member Airdrop: Rewards Early Contributors
Different types of airdrops have different locking periods; public airdrops have no locking period and users can use them immediately. The airdrops of bioDAO and Genesis members have a longer lock-up period, including a 1-year lock-up period and a 6-year linear unlocking period.
Overall, BIO’s Genesis launch plan and airdrop strategy show the project’s emphasis on fair distribution, community participation, and long-term development. Through multiple rounds of auctions and multi-level airdrops, BIO is actively building a diverse and highly engaged community to lay a solid foundation for its decentralized biomedical research network.
Not an isolated case
In addition to Binance Labs’ involvement in the DeSci track through this project, other VCs are also waiting for the opportunity.
Previously, we also mentioned in (Interpretation of AminoChain: a16z is the first to invest in DeSci to lead a US$5 million investment, and patients contribute biological samples to obtain income). About 40 days ago, a16z also entered this track to invest in a project for the first time.
In a market where VC coins are not connected to each other and memes are flying everywhere, if crypto can do some good things for traditional industries, and if VC can really seriously invest in a project that can benefit other industries, it can be considered a success. The stock is correct and a different kind of clear flow.
As Paul Kohlhaas, founder of the BIO protocol in this article, said, “Science drives human progress, but we trap our brightest minds in an endless maze of funding─they spend 80% of their time writing grants money, rather than solving the greatest challenges facing humanity."
Less hype and more meaningful technology projects to unlock breakthrough progress. The decision of industry leading investors must be worthy of attention, but the investment effect and final income will definitely need time and the market to test.
[Disclaimer] There are risks in the market, so investment needs to be cautious. This article does not constitute investment advice and users should consider whether any opinions, views or conclusions contained in this article are appropriate for their particular circumstances. Invest accordingly and do so at your own risk.
This article is reproduced with permission from: (Shenchao TechFlow)
"Binance invests in DeSci for the first time!" What is the BIO protocol? How to participate in the 200 million token airdrop? 』This article was first published in "CryptoCity"