Binance Labs Invests $10 Million in Helio Protocol

Liquid staking derivatives (LSDfi) are becoming increasingly important in the overall DeFi landscape, and Binance has decided to join this trend by investing in Helio Protocol.

Key Investment:

• Investment Amount: Binance Labs has invested $10 million into Helio Protocol, positioning it as a leading platform in the liquid staking sector.
• Purpose: The funding aims to help Helio Protocol expand its operations across multiple chains, including Ethereum and prominent layer-2 solutions like Arbitrum and zkSync.

About Liquid Staking:

• Concept: Liquid staking involves staking a token (e.g., X) into a network and receiving another token (e.g., XN) as a representative. While earning passive income from staking, users can flexibly use XN for various purposes within the decentralized financial environment. Lido Finance is a notable example of a successful project using this model.

Binance Labs’ Statement:

• Growth and Potential: "LSDfi opens up new opportunities and has seen significant TVL growth in recent months. These protocols can drive the development of liquid staking systems by encouraging higher capital efficiency in staking participation."

Helio Protocol Overview:

• Stablecoin Minting: Helio initially focused on minting stablecoins, particularly HAY, which is pegged to USD and backed by BNB, similar to Maker's DAI and Aave's GHO.
• Recent Merger: A month ago, Helio merged with Synclub to diversify collateral for HAY. Synclub, the second-largest staking service provider on BNB Chain, has over 1 million BNB locked. The merger allows users to convert BNB deposits into LSTs like AnkrBNB (ANKR), snBNB (Synclub), BNBx (Stader), and stkBNB (Pstake), while still displaying balances in BNB and offering withdrawal options for any LST from the portfolio.

Current Status:

• DeFi Ranking: Helio is the 13th largest DeFi protocol on BNB Chain, with a TVL of $300 million, of which $260 million is staked in validator nodes by Synclub.

Recent Investments by Binance Labs:

• Other Investments: This investment marks the third by Binance Labs in early August, following a $5 million investment in Curve Finance and a $2.5 million investment in zkPass.

Binance Labs’ substantial investment in Helio Protocol underscores its commitment to supporting the growth and development of innovative DeFi solutions, particularly in the burgeoning LSDfi sector. This funding will enable Helio to expand its reach and capabilities, enhancing its role within the decentralized finance ecosystem.