Original source: Deep Tide TechFlow
Rhythm BlockBeats Note: On November 8, Binance Labs announced investment in the DeSci project BIO Protocol. On December 23, Binance Launchpool announced the launch of the 63rd project, Bio Protocol (BIO). It will go live on 2025-01-03 18:00, opening BIO/USDT, BIO/BNB, BIO/FDUSD, and BIO/TRY trading pairs. Through this article, readers can better understand BIO Protocol and the DeSci track. This article was first published on November 9, and some data may have changed. The latest information is subject to announcements from official accounts.
Beyond the meme frenzy, the crypto industry is still making actual project investments, and Binance Labs' investment trends are also closely watched. Binance Labs announced investment in the decentralized science (DeSci) related protocol BIO Protocol, marking its first investment in a project in the DeSci track, making BIO Protocol the focus of attention. However, things seem to have always followed a traceable path.
Although CZ has gradually stepped back from Binance, in a letter to the judge amid legal issues in the first half of the year, he also mentioned: "I feel that there is too much medical research driven by interests... I want to help fund small research laboratories. Over the past few years, I have spoken with many biotech startups in this field." Focusing on the medical and scientific fields reflects the thoughts of key figures at Binance, which has somewhat influenced the perspective and decision inertia of the investment department.
So, what exactly is BIO Protocol, and what exceptional qualities does it possess to attract the investment of Binance Labs?
Decentralized science incubator
In fact, in the documents where Binance Labs announced its investment in BIO, the essence of BIO was already named --- "On-chain science version of Y Combinator."
Y Combinator is a famous tech startup incubator that provides funding, guidance, and resources to early-stage startups, helping them grow and develop quickly.
The so-called on-chain science version refers to scientific research and funding processes conducted using blockchain technology. "On-chain" means that these activities and transactions occur on the blockchain, characterized by transparency and decentralization.
If you benchmark against Y Combinator, then a rough functional point for BIO Protocol could be:
Incubation function: Like Y Combinator incubating tech startups, the BIO protocol provides support and resources for scientific research projects.
Funding support: Through blockchain technology, BIO can more easily raise funds for research projects.
Community participation: Allowing global scientists, patients, and investors to participate in and support research projects.
Accelerated development: Helping research projects grow quickly, similar to how Y Combinator accelerates the development of startups.
Innovative model: Introducing new funding and commercialization models for research, breaking the limitations of traditional research funding.
How are the above functional points specifically realized? This involves the core design of BIO Protocol.
From the perspective commonly seen in crypto projects, the essence of BIO Protocol is a curation and liquidity protocol in the decentralized science (DeSci) field. Its design concept is based on the team's previous successful experiences in Molecule (a platform for tokenizing early biomedical projects) and VitaDAO (the largest decentralized community for longevity science).
The BIO protocol mainly includes the following core components:
1. BioDAO: Sub-DAOs focused on different specific scientific or medical research fields
BioDAO members concentrate resources (data, capital, labor) together, leveraging the collective power of globally distributed stakeholders (e.g., patients, scientists, and biotech builders) to accelerate the R&D process and develop new intellectual property.
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.
Currently, BIO officials have also announced some successful cases of DAOs, some of which also interface with universities, research institutions, and pharmaceutical companies in the real world, successfully demonstrating the effectiveness of this model:
2. Curation system
Using a token staking mechanism, selecting and supporting high-quality biotech projects through a combination of community voting and professional evaluations.
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.
The BioDAOs voting to enter the network obtain funding through the BIO Launchpad, as well as token liquidity support from the community, incentives, and other acceleration services.
3. Liquidity and IP
Provide tokenization solutions for biotech IP, allowing these IP to be tokenized (in forms such as NFTs and FTs); while also establishing secondary market trading mechanisms to achieve liquidity for research project investments.
Among them, intellectual property tokens ("IP-Tokens" or "IPT") represent a portion of governance rights over the intellectual property (IP) produced. These tokens give holders the opportunity to directly participate in the development, decision-making, and future direction of the research.
BioDAO develops and owns IP tokens. Each BioDAO typically holds a portfolio of IP tokens that represent intellectual property related to specific scientific research fields. For example, VitaDAO develops and owns stakes in IPTVitaRNA and VITA-FAST.
When someone acquires an IPToken, they will receive shares of the IP generated by research, including patents for new compounds, proprietary screening systems, and possibly even treatment methods.
However, unlike other NFT profit-sharing models, IPTokens do not grant holders the right to guaranteed financial returns or revenue sharing from the commercialization of these assets but rather benefits in real scientific research, such as:
Access to exclusive information, receiving the latest updates and detailed reports on intellectual property research and development progress, as well as early or priority access to innovations, collaborations, or future opportunities related to intellectual property.
4. Incentive mechanisms (Bio/Acc Rewards)
Designing special accelerated reward mechanisms to incentivize early participants and contributors to promote the rapid development of the ecosystem.
Bio/Acc Rewards provide incentives to bioDAOs in the form of BIO tokens to achieve key milestones. In practical terms, this means incentivizing both toB and toC parties, as long as they complete the following events:
To institutions and research organizations: Initial token auctions through the BIO Launchpad, funding scientific (IP-Token release), generating substantial income from product launches, and conducting decentralized clinical trials.
For general users: Contributing to clinical trials or self-reported health data, using bioDAO products (such as certain medical supplies), and purchasing bioDAO products in online/offline stores.
Token economics and auction analysis
The native token of the BIO protocol is $BIO, deployed on Ethereum, contract address: 0xcb1592591996765Ec0eFc1f92599A19767ee5ffA
Holders can participate in key decisions of the protocol, including:
- Select and support bioDAOs that join the BIO network
- Deciding the terms for participating in bioDAOs and their IP token sales
- Provide support and discounts for bioDAO's health products/services
- Governance within member bioDAOs
- Deciding the issuance of BIO tokens, treasury allocation, and protocol upgrades
With the growth of bioDAOs in the BIO network and the appreciation of IP assets, BIO token holders may benefit from it. The BIO treasury accumulates value through various mechanisms, including token allocations from incubated bioDAOs and liquidity owned by the protocol (POL).
In terms of token supply, the total initial supply is 3,320,000,000 BIO, with the following characteristics:
- Current status: Non-transferable (currently cannot be traded on secondary markets)
- Maximum supply: Unlimited, future increases may be decided through governance voting
- Increased issuance mechanism: Requires deploying a new token contract to replace the current BIO token
In terms of token allocation, the community (totaling 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
- Advisors (4.2%): 139,440,000 BIO
Each category has its specific unlocking timetable:
Community airdrop:
Public airdrop portion: No lock-up
bioDAO and founding members: 1-year cliff followed by 6 years linear unlocking
Community auction: 50% immediately available, 50% linear unlocking over 1 year
Ecosystem incentives: No lock-up
Core contributors: 1-year lock-up period, followed by 6 years linear unlocking
Molecule ecosystem fund: 4 years linear unlocking
Molecule: 4 years linear unlocking
Investors: 4 years linear unlocking after a 1-year lock-up period
Advisors: 1-year lock-up period followed by 6 years linear unlocking
At the same time, the BIO protocol uses a dual-round Genesis auction mechanism for Token launch.
Genesis is the launch plan for the BIO protocol, aimed at allocating initial tokens through auction and raising funds for the protocol. This plan is divided into two rounds, each with its specific goals and mechanisms.
The first round adopted a British auction mechanism, with participants bidding using ETH. The main purpose of this auction is to establish an initial community, discover the market price of BIO tokens, and raise initial funds for the protocol.
The first round has been successfully completed, and currently, BIO is in the second round of the Genesis program. This round adopts a Dutch auction mechanism, allocating a total of 12.75% of the token supply (Note: As of November 15, the second round auction has also ended)
Interested investors can participate in the auction through BIO's official platform. Participants need to connect their wallets first and then choose to participate in the auction of bioDAO asset pools or ETH pools based on their interests. (Note: This is for linking and information sorting only, not investment advice, please DYOR)
After the auction, participants will receive BIO tokens, with 50% available immediately and the remaining 50% linear unlocking over one year. This mechanism aims to balance immediate liquidity and long-term holding incentives.
In addition to the Genesis auction, BIO also designed a comprehensive airdrop plan aimed at rewarding early supporters and expanding the community. The following are the main features of the airdrop plan:
The BIO airdrop plan allocated 6% of the total supply, approximately 199,200,000 BIO tokens. This number is quite substantial, showing the project's emphasis on community building.
The airdrop mainly targets three categories of groups:
Public airdrop: Targeting early users of the Molecule platform, members of life sciences-related DAOs, etc.
bioDAO airdrop: Specifically targeting bioDAOs that have joined the BIO network
Founding members airdrop: Rewarding early contributors
Different types of airdrops have different lock-up periods; the public airdrop portion has no lock-up period, and users can use it immediately. However, the airdrops for bioDAO and founding members have longer lock-up periods, including a 1-year lock-up and a 6-year linear unlocking.
Overall, BIO's Genesis launch plan and airdrop strategy demonstrate 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, laying a solid foundation for its decentralized biomedical research network.
Not an isolated case
In addition to Binance Labs entering the DeSci track through this project, other VCs are also on the lookout.
Previously, we mentioned in (Interpreting AminoChain: a16z first entered the DeSci track, leading an investment of 5 million dollars, with patients contributing biological samples to gain profits) that approximately 40 days ago, a16z also first entered this track to invest in projects.
In a market rhythm where VC tokens do not take over and memes abound, if crypto can do some good for traditional industries, it would be a refreshing stream if VCs could genuinely invest in projects that benefit other industries.
As Paul Kohlhaas, the founder of the BIO protocol, said, "Science drives human progress, but we have trapped the smartest minds in endless funding mazes--they spend 80% of their time writing grants instead of solving the greatest challenges humanity faces."
Less hype, more meaningful technology projects to unlock breakthroughs. The decisions of leading investors in the industry are surely worth paying attention to, but the effects of investments and final returns will inevitably require time and the market to test.
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