I. Project introduction
1. Basic project information
The BIO Protocol is a decentralized science (DeSci) platform designed to promote the fundraising, development, and sharing of intellectual property (IP) for biotechnology research through decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) models. Its goal is to address the uneven funding distribution in traditional biomedical research, encouraging studies on rare diseases, longevity research, and other emerging health challenges.
The origins of the BIO Protocol can be traced back to the team’s work on the early biomedical tokenization platform Molecule and the longevity science community VitaDAO. The BIO Protocol was officially launched as an independent project in 2024.
2. Project development history
(1) Early exploration phase
At the beginning of 2023, the BIO Protocol team began building the De-Sci ecosystem, using the successful experiences accumulated in Molecule and VitaDAO as a foundation to initiate groundbreaking explorations. They thoroughly analyze traditional research pain points, combining cutting-edge blockchain technology to lay a solid foundation for subsequent development.
(2) Project initiation and preliminary development
In late 2024, the BIO Protocol was officially established and began building the BioDAOs network, attracting participation from scientists, patients, and investors to promote research projects across multiple scientific fields.
(3) Important milestones
In November 2024, Binance Labs made its first De-Sci investment in the BIO Protocol, providing essential funding support and industry recognition for the project's development.
In December 2024, the BIO Protocol completed the issuance of the BIO Genesis token, raising over $33 million. At the same time, the airdrop plan for the BIO token was launched to attract early supporters and active community members globally to deeply participate, laying the foundation for the rapid expansion of the project ecosystem and invigorating community vitality.
In January 2025, the BIO token will be launched on Binance Launchpool, with plans to launch on Ethereum, Solana, and Base networks, comprehensively expanding the token circulation channels, enhancing project influence and market coverage, and building a diverse bridge for subsequent capital flow and value exchange within the ecosystem.
3. Core team background
The core team of the BIO Protocol consists of seasoned experts in the blockchain and biotechnology fields, including key personnel:
Paul Kohlhaas, wearing multiple hats, is a co-founder of the BIO Protocol, as well as the founder and CEO of Molecule, and co-founder of VitaDAO, possessing deep expertise in the integration of blockchain and biotechnology. Previously worked at ConsenSys and the Swiss government's blockchain project.
Clemens Ortlepp, co-founder and Chief Product Officer (CPO) of the BIO Protocol, founder of MTX Studio, focuses on decentralized technology innovation. He leads the design of user-facing products for the BIO Protocol, ensuring the platform has a user-friendly interface and efficient operational processes.
James Sinka, focusing on R&D and community sectors, has a strong foundation in blockchain technology R&D, ensuring the underlying technical architecture of the BIO Protocol is stable and efficient, continuously iterating and optimizing; on the other hand, he excels in community operations, uniting the global dispersed forces of patients, scientists, enthusiasts, etc., to create an active and creative community ecosystem.
Jose Pinto, legal advisor, well-versed in relevant laws and regulations in various parts of the world, especially in the cryptocurrency sector. He safeguards the project through thorny paths such as regulatory compliance and operational challenges, providing professional legal support in every detail from the initial commercial structure setup and token issuance compliance review to drafting contracts and protecting intellectual property in daily operations, ensuring the project moves forward steadily in a complex and changing legal environment, avoiding development obstacles due to legal risks.
Leonard Boltz, product expert, is responsible for refining every detail of user interaction, breaking down the grand vision of the BIO Protocol into practical and convenient tools. He is dedicated to creating an exceptional user experience, allowing users with different knowledge levels and technical backgrounds to easily get started and seamlessly integrate into the ecosystem, promoting large-scale adoption of the project.
Nate Hindman, growth lead, keeps a close eye on market dynamics, user demands, and industry trends. Through precise marketing strategies, expanding collaboration channels, and organizing various online and offline activities, he is committed to expanding the influence of the BIO Protocol, attracting more scientists, patients, and members of the cryptocurrency community to join.
II. Business model
1. Operation model
The BIO Protocol is the financial layer of decentralized science (DeSci) aimed at accelerating the influx of capital and talent into on-chain science. The protocol aims to catalyze the on-chain economy of the scientific community (BioDAOs) and create a deep, liquid, and efficient market for scientific IP developed by BioDAOs.
The BIO Protocol has 5 core functions:
(1) Curation (BIO staking)
BIO token holders participate in selecting new BioDAOs to join the ecosystem, using a bottom-up approach to provide funding for scientific research. Community-selected BioDAOs will receive funding, be added to the treasury, and be supported by the BIO Protocol. Since the BIO Protocol relies on high-quality BioDAOs, curation requires locked BIO (vBIO) participation to ensure participants maintain long-term aligned goals with the network.
Through vBIO (locked BIO), BIO holders can express support for new DAO applications submitted by "operators" (network stakeholders supporting the incubation phase of BioDAO).
BIO holders use vBIO tokens to choose which BioDAOs they wish to accept. If the DAO they support is approved to enter the network, these stakers will gain priority access to whitelist financing rounds, as well as privileged access to DAO products, data, or services.
(2) Funding
If the BioDAO application is accepted to join the BIO network, all participants who staked vBIO in support of that BioDAO can participate in the initial whitelist seed round financing.
Through BIO, users can support groundbreaking scientific research from day one and enjoy the same or even better conditions as venture capital firms (VCs) or other organizations.
(3) Liquidity management
BioDAOs focus on scientific research rather than managing liquidity. The BIO Protocol addresses this issue by managing liquidity in the secondary market for BioDAOs.
The BIO Protocol can use the BIO tokens and other asset holdings in its treasury to provide on-chain liquidity support for the BIO network.
BIO tokens can be paired with BioDAO tokens (e.g., VITA/BIO, HAIR/BIO) or with other assets (e.g., BIO/ETH) to build liquidity pools, enabling low-cost token conversions within the network, accumulating fees, and building the protocol's own liquidity.
(4) Bio/acc rewards (Bio/acc Rewards)
The BIO Protocol can issue rewards in the form of BIO tokens (i.e., "bio/acc rewards") to incentivize BioDAOs to achieve key milestones aimed at enhancing network value (e.g., asset management scale, AUM).
BIO holders can utilize bio/acc rewards to incentivize BioDAOs to achieve the following goals:
Ø Provide a certain amount of funding support for on-chain scientific research;
Ø Maintain a certain level of token liquidity;
Ø Develop IP that can enter clinical trials;
Ø Generate sales revenue through the consumption of products or services.
(5) Meta-Governance
The BIO Protocol holds various BioDAO tokens in its treasury, thus serving as a meta-governance layer, empowering BIO holders to govern a wide range of BioDAOs and scientific IP assets.
2. Ecosystem building
The ecological core of the BIO Protocol relies on the BioDAO network. These BioDAOs each focus on different sub-scientific fields, with each BioDAO being an independent yet collaborative innovation engine, comprising members from relevant fields such as patients, scientists, and biotechnology practitioners, who unite for a common goal, selflessly contributing their data, funds, labor, and other resources to form a powerful synergy to promote scientific research.
Taking the funding aspect as an example, the project carefully designs a precise mechanism to guide funds toward specific scientific missions or individual IP assets. When a given BioDAO locks in to tackle a research project for a rare disease, it swiftly initiates community voting, token incentives, and other strategies, extending olive branches to global parties passionate and professionally matched to attract funding while igniting communication within the network and accelerating the research process.
3. Success cases
(1) VitaDAO
Provided over $5 million in funding support for longevity science research, receiving backing from Pfizer Ventures and collaborating with Newcastle University.
(2) HairDAO
Focusing on hair loss issues, owning all the patents and consumer products of the DAO, Follicool.
(3) CerebrumDAO
Promote brain health research, having raised over $1.5 million, and reached a cooperation agreement with Fission Pharma to jointly address mitochondrial dysfunction in neurodegenerative diseases.
(4) ValleyDAO
Focusing on the synthetic biology field, raising over $2 million and establishing collaborations with Imperial College.
(5) AthenaDAO
Promote women's health research and development, having funded $500,000 for translational research, with 14 intellectual property transactions currently underway.
(6) CryoDAO
Promote the development of low-temperature science, raising over $3 million for this field and establishing project collaborations with Oxford Cryotechnology and Advanced Neural Biosciences.
(7) PsyDAO
Focusing on psychedelic drug research, launched the OPSY platform, which utilizes psychedelic drug trials and data to drive research.
The second group of early admission list for BIO includes:
(1) Long COVID Labs
Dedicated to accelerating the development of treatment solutions for over 100 million long-term COVID patients.
Founder: Rohan Dixit, former Stanford neuroscientist, medical entrepreneur, and long-term COVID recoverer.
(2) Quantum Biology DAO
Develop quantum microscopes to advance biological research.
Founders: Clarice D. Aiello (PhD from MIT, a world-leading quantum biology scientist) and Geoff Anders (Executive Director of Leverage Research).
(3) Curetopia
Addressing over $1 trillion in rare disease sector issues through uniting families and patient communities.
Founder: Ethan Perlstein, PhD from Harvard University, entrepreneur, Y-Combinator alumnus.
IV. Token economics
$BIO is the native governance token of the BIO Protocol. Holders can use $BIO to:
Ø Signal support for which BioDAOs (Curation);
Ø Vote on future $BIO issuance or distribution;
Ø Implement the network development accelerator program.
$BIO provides the following rights to holders:
Ø Governance rights of the BioDAOs network
Ø Participation rights in early financing rounds of BioDAOs.
Ø Economic rewards for contributions to health data and participation in clinical trials.
Ø New health products funded by BioDAOs
$BIO is issued by the Bio.xyz Association, a non-profit organization that serves as the legal custodian of the BIO infrastructure and finances.
(1) Initial distribution
Ø Total supply: 3,320,000,000
Ø Circulating supply: 39.05% (of which 15% is in the BIO Protocol treasury and requires governance voting to unlock)
Ø Maximum supply: Unlimited, decided by voting of the BIO governance body
New BIO tokens can be minted due to future protocol or network growth, but new contracts need to be deployed to replace the current BIO token contract.
(2) Token distribution of Genesis
Ø Community: 56% (of which: community auction: 20%, community airdrop: 6%, ecosystem incentives: 25%, Molecule ecological fund: 5%)
Ø Early supporters: 13.6%
Ø Early contributors: 21.2%
Ø Advisors: 4.2%
Ø Molecule: 5%
(3) $BIO unlocking plan
Ø Ecosystem incentives (25%): No lock-up
Ø Community airdrop (6%): No lock-up
Ø Community auction (20%): 50% with no lock-up, 50% linear unlock over one year.
The tokens acquired by the other parties will be unlocked over a period of 1-6 years.
III. Project prospects
1. Industry analysis
The DeSci industry where the BIO Protocol is located is an emerging and rapidly developing field, currently in a fast-growing early stage. According to a recent chart shared by Messari, half of the top 10 DeSci projects by market capitalization were launched in 2024. The rapid rise of this sector in the cryptocurrency market highlights continuous innovation and growing interest.
Key drivers of the DeSci industry include the following:
Decentralization trend in scientific research: Funding allocation for traditional research projects is usually concentrated in a few institutions, while DeSci offers a fairer alternative, incentivizing global community participation.
Decentralized management of intellectual property: Through blockchain technology, the IP of scientific research can be transparently recorded and distributed, which helps improve the transparency and efficiency of innovation.
Rapid growth of the biotechnology industry: According to industry research, the global biotechnology market is expected to reach $850 billion by 2025, with an annual growth rate of over 7%. DeSci platforms can carve out a share in this market.
A robust and unmet market demand: From the perspective of patients, suffering from illness, they yearn for faster access to innovative treatment solutions and hope to deeply participate in research decisions to voice their destinies; while some scientists have bright ideas but seek sufficient funding support and efficient collaborative platforms. Investors are looking for emerging investment opportunities in the market, and DeSci resembles a gold mine waiting to be explored, perfectly meeting the urgent needs of all parties.
Traditional research models seem to be mired in issues such as uneven funding distribution, slow results conversion, and high research thresholds. DeSci leverages cutting-edge concepts like blockchain and tokenization to initiate a new research paradigm. Currently, DeSci has attracted a large number of innovators and investors flooding in, with many projects springing up across diverse fields such as longevity, neuroscience, and biotechnology, attempting to reshape the research ecosystem and inject new momentum into human technological progress.
2. Development planning
On January 4, 2025, Paul Kohhaas, co-founder of the BIO Protocol, released the January roadmap for the BIO Protocol, including:
Ø Introduce 10 new DAOs;
Ø Release Rust and EVM launch platform contracts;
Ø Cross-chain $BIO to Solana and Base;
Ø Launch the Genesis projects for Curetopia and Long COVID Labs;
Ø Launch DeFi liquidity pairing;
Ø Launch DeScAI agents (in collaboration with Vita DAO);
Ø Conduct the token generation event (TGE) for Quantum Biology DAO;
Ø Launch platform audit.
The recent goals of the BIO Protocol:
Ø Further expand the BioDAOs network to attract more participation from scientists, patients, and the cryptocurrency community;
Ø Launch user-friendly tools and platforms to lower the technical barriers for user participation;
Ø Support the active development of the ecosystem through the BIO token incentive mechanism.
The long-term goal of the BIO Protocol:
Ø Become a leader in the DeSci field and establish a decentralized network for scientific research on a global scale;
Ø Promote the conversion of research results funded by BioDAOs to the market, achieving a win-win situation of economic and social benefits;
Ø Collaborate with government agencies and traditional research organizations to further promote decentralized research models.
IV. Summary
The BIO Protocol is a significant innovator in the DeSci industry, providing a fair and transparent collaboration platform for researchers, investors, and patient communities by building a decentralized biotechnology research and commercialization ecosystem. Its comprehensive token economic model and strong collaborative network give the BIO Protocol significant potential in the rapidly growing DeSci market.
Combining market demand, project team background, and industry development trends, $BIO has high long-term investment value. Initial price fluctuations may be significant, but its unique ecological value is expected to gradually manifest in the long term. Furthermore, as the first DeSci project to launch a token on Binance, a certain valuation premium is recommended. Investors can allocate $BIO according to their risk preferences.
The DeSci industry is still in its early stages, but with the widespread application of blockchain technology and the increasing complexity of biotechnology research, decentralized research funding and commercialization models are expected to become one of the mainstream trends in the future. The success of the BIO Protocol may lead to more innovative DeSci projects joining this wave.
