On May 13, Zest, a leading protocol specifically designed for Bitcoin announced the successful completion of seed fund round of $3.5 Million.
Tim Draper’s Draper Associates has conducted the seed round with the participation of some of the most renowned industry players including Binance Labs, Flow Traders, Trust machines, Asymmetric, Gravity Fund and Hyperithm.
Zest Protocol raises $3.5m Seed round to redefine Bitcoin lending
— Zest Protocol (@ZestProtocol) May 13, 2024
Led by @drapervc, with participation from @BinanceLabs, @FlowTraders, @trustmachinesco, @goasymmetric and more pic.twitter.com/L1PP6hmWN6
Objectives of Zest Protocol
The objective of the organization is to revolutionize bitcoin lending by promoting every bitcoin holder to engage in on-chain lending markets seamlessly. In order to deliver a fully bitcoin-native lending experience, Zest Protocol aims to leverage the upcoming Stacks Nakamoto.
With the launch of sBTC, users will be able to deposit BTC through a native Bitcoin transaction and subsequently, they can fund their balances on Zest Protocol to participate in lending or yield-generating activities.
Surrounding anticipations of the sBTC launch, Zest Protocol has already activated its lending infrastructure on the Stacks mainnet. It marked a significant milestone for Stacks market- the first money market for Stacks based assets.
The founder of Zest Protocol, Tycho Onnasch, shared his positive views on Bitcoin Layer 2 solutions like Stacks, emphasizing their crucial role in unlocking Bitcoin DeFi. Moreover, he highlighted that “unlike Ethereum, the creation of basic DeFi primitives such as liquidity pools is not possible on Bitcoin L1.”
Contribution and Views of the players involved in Seed Funding
The Zest Protocol team has boasted about their rich history of building Bitcoin applications and infrastructure. Trust Machines, one of the leading bitcoin product companies founded by Muneeb Ali, co-developer of Stacks, played a significant role in the development of the Stacks Nakamoto upgrade and sBTC with the Zest Protocol.
Muneeb Ali has emphasized the significance of a robust capital market in supporting the widespread adoption of Bitcoin. He appreciated the Zest Protocol’s mission driven approach to positioning Bitcoin DeFi as a fundamental part of users’ Bitcoin experiences.
Tim Draper has also expressed his enthusiasm for Zest Protocol’s initiative, underscoring the importance of utilizing BTC productively. He highlighted his excitement to leverage Zest Protocol’s product after opening BTC deposits.
Yi He, co-founder of Binance and Head of Binance Labs, had also praised Zest Protocol’s technology for addressing the needs of Bitcoin holders and borrowers. He emphasized Binance Labs’ commitment to supporting pioneering initiatives that have the potential to evolve the industry and expressed anticipation for the growth expected from Stacks’ Nakamoto upgrade.
Michael Li, Global Head of Digital Assets at Flow Traders, shared similar views, highlighting the potential of Zest Protocol’s technology to support the growth and maturity of ecosystems. It seamlessly aligns with the Flow Traders’ mission to contribute to market development.
The successful seed round of Zest Protocol highlights the investors’ confidence in the project’s vision and also projects a new era of Bitcoin Lending. It promises to offer access to DeFi opportunities for BTC holders all across the world.
Zest Protocol is expected to redefine the landscape of Bitcoin DeFi as it has strong background support from some of the industry experts and a dedicated team.
