1. Project Introduction
1. Basic information of the project
BIO Protocol is a decentralized science (DeSci) platform that aims to promote the funding, development and sharing of intellectual property (IP) for biotechnology research through a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) model. Its goal is to address the uneven distribution of funds in traditional biomedical research and encourage research on rare diseases, longevity research and other emerging health challenges.
BIO Protocol’s origins can be traced back to its team’s work at early biomedical tokenization platform Molecule and longevity science community VitaDAO, while BIO Protocol was officially launched as an independent project in 2024.
2. Project development history
( 1 ) Early Exploration Stage
At the beginning of 2023, the BIO Protocol team has begun to build the De-Sci ecosystem, using the successful experience accumulated in Molecule and VitaDAO as the cornerstone to start pioneering exploration. They deeply analyze the pain points of traditional scientific research and combine cutting-edge blockchain technology to lay a solid foundation for subsequent development.
( 2 ) Project launch and initial development
In late 2024, BIO Protocol was officially established and began to build the BioDAOs network to attract the participation of scientists, patients and investors and promote research projects in multiple scientific fields.
( 3 ) Important Milestones
In November 2024, Binance Labs made its first De-Sci investment in BIO Protocol, providing important financial support and industry recognition for the project's development.
In December 2024, BIO Protocol completed the issuance of BIO Genesis tokens, raising more than $33 million. At the same time, the BIO token airdrop plan was launched to attract early supporters and active community members from around the world to participate deeply, laying the foundation for the rapid expansion of the project ecosystem and stimulating community vitality.
In January 2025, the BIO token will be launched on Binance Launchpool and is planned to be launched on Ethereum, Solana and Base networks, expanding the token circulation channels in all directions, enhancing the project's influence and market coverage, and building a diversified bridge for subsequent capital flow and value exchange within the ecosystem.
3. Core Team Background
The core team of BIO Protocol is composed of senior experts in the fields of blockchain and biotechnology, including:
Paul Kohlhaas, who holds multiple positions, is the co-founder of BIO Protocol, the founder and CEO of Molecule, and the co-founder of VitaDAO. He has profound attainments in the integration of blockchain and biotechnology. He previously worked for ConsenSys and the Swiss government blockchain project.
Clemens Ortlepp, co-founder and chief product officer (CPO) of BIO Protocol, founder of MTX Studio, focuses on decentralized technology innovation. He leads the creation of BIO Protocol user-end products to ensure that the platform has a friendly interactive interface and efficient operation process.
James Sinka focuses on R&D and community sectors. On the one hand, he has deep roots in blockchain technology research and development to ensure the stability, efficiency, and continuous iterative optimization of the underlying technical architecture of BIO Protocol; on the other hand, he is good at community operations, gathering the strength of patients, scientists, enthusiasts and other groups scattered around the world to create an active and creative community ecology.
Jose Pinto, legal counsel, is familiar with laws and regulations in many parts of the world, especially in the field of cryptocurrency. He escorts projects on the thorny road of compliance operation and response to regulatory challenges, from the establishment of business structure and compliance review of token issuance in the early stage of project launch to contract drafting and intellectual property protection in daily operations, providing professional legal support in every detail to ensure that projects move forward steadily in a complex and changing legal environment and avoid development being hindered by legal risks.
Leonard Boltz, product expert, is responsible for carving out every detail that users come into contact with, breaking down the grand vision of BIO Protocol into practical and convenient tools. He is committed to creating the ultimate user experience, allowing users with different knowledge levels and technical backgrounds to easily get started, seamlessly integrate into the ecosystem, and promote the large-scale popularization of the project.
Nate Hindman, Head of Growth, keeps a close eye on market dynamics, user needs and industry trends. He is committed to expanding the influence of BIO Protocol and attracting more scientists, patients and cryptocurrency community members to join by formulating precise marketing strategies, expanding cooperation channels, and holding online and offline events.
2. Business Model
1. Operation mode
BIO Protocol is the financial layer of decentralized science (DeSci), designed to accelerate the flow of capital and talent into on-chain science. The protocol aims to catalyze the on-chain economy of scientific communities (BioDAOs) and create a deep, liquid, and efficient market for scientific IP developed by BioDAOs.
BIO Protocol has five core functions:
( 1 ) Curation ( BIO Staking )
BIO token holders join the ecosystem by participating in screening new BioDAOs, using a bottom-up approach to fund scientific research. Community-selected BioDAOs will be funded, added to the treasury, and supported by the BIO Protocol. Because the BIO Protocol relies on high-quality BioDAOs, Curation requires locked BIO (vBIO) participation to ensure that participants maintain long-term alignment with the network's goals.
Through vBIO (locked BIO), BIO holders can show support for new DAO applications submitted by “operators” (network stakeholders who support the BioDAO incubation phase).
BIO holders use vBIO tokens to select the BioDAOs they wish to be onboarded. If the DAO they support is approved to join the network, these stakers will receive priority in whitelisted funding rounds, as well as privileged access to the DAO’s products, data, or services.
( 2 ) Funding
If the BioDAO application is accepted to join the BIO network, all participants who have staked vBIO to support the BioDAO will be able to participate in the initial whitelisted seed round.
Through BIO, users can support groundbreaking scientific research from day one and enjoy the same or even better conditions as venture capital (VC) or other institutions.
( 3 ) Liquidity Management
BioDAOs focus on scientific research rather than managing liquidity. BIO Protocol solves this problem by managing the liquidity of the BioDAO secondary market.
BIO Protocol can use BIO tokens and other token-held assets 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, thereby enabling low-cost token conversions within the network, accumulating fees and building protocol-owned liquidity.
( 4 ) Bio / acc Rewards
BIO Protocol may issue rewards in the form of BIO tokens (i.e. “bio/acc rewards”) to incentivize BioDAOs to achieve key milestones designed to increase the value of the network (e.g., assets under management, AUM).
BIO holders can use bio/acc rewards to incentivize BioDAOs to achieve the following goals:
Ø Provide a certain amount of financial support for on-chain scientific research;
Ø Maintain a certain level of token liquidity;
Ø Develop intellectual property that can enter clinical trials;
Ø Generate sales revenue through consumption of products or services.
( 5 ) Meta- Governance
BIO Protocol holds multiple BioDAO tokens in its treasury and can therefore serve as a meta-governance layer, enabling BIO holders to exercise governance over a broad range of BioDAOs and scientific IP assets.
2. Ecosystem construction
The core of BIO Protocol's ecosystem relies on the BioDAO network. These BioDAOs focus on different scientific fields. Each BioDAO is an independent and collaborative innovation engine. Its members include patients, scientists, and biotechnology practitioners in related fields. They gather together for common goals and selflessly contribute their data, funds, labor and other resources to form a powerful force to promote scientific research.
Taking the funding link as an example, the project has carefully designed a set of sophisticated mechanisms to accurately guide funds to specific scientific missions or individual IP assets. When a BioDAO locks in on a rare disease research project, it quickly launches multiple strategies such as community voting and token incentives, and extends an olive branch to all parties around the world who are full of enthusiasm and professional matching, attracting financial investment, while igniting exchanges within the network and accelerating the progress of scientific research.
3. Successful Cases
( 1 ) VitaDAO
Provided more than $5 million in funding for longevity science research, with support from Pfizer Ventures and collaboration with Newcastle University.
( 2 ) HairDAO
Focusing on hair loss issues, it owns all of DAO’s patents and consumer products, Follicool.
( 3 ) CerebrumDAO
Advancing brain health research, the company has raised more than $1.5 million and entered into a collaboration agreement with Fission Pharma to jointly address mitochondrial dysfunction in neurodegenerative diseases.
( 4 ) ValleyDAO
Focusing on the field of synthetic biology, it has raised more than $2 million and established a collaboration with Imperial College.
( 5 ) AthenaDAO
Advancing women’s health research and development, $500,000 in translational research has been funded and 14 intellectual property deals are currently in progress.
( 6 ) CryoDAO
Advancing the field of cryogenic science, raising more than $3 million for the field and establishing project collaborations with Oxford Cryotechnology and Advanced Neural Biosciences.
( 7 ) PsyDAO
Focusing on psychedelic drug research, it launched the OPSY platform, a new platform that uses psychedelic drug trials and data to drive research.
BIO's second group of early admissions includes:
( 1 ) Long COVID Labs
Committed to accelerating the development of treatments for the more than 100 million people living with long-term COVID-19.
Founder: Rohan Dixit, former Stanford neuroscientist, medical entrepreneur, and long-term COVID-19 survivor.
( 2 ) Quantum Biology DAO
Developing quantum microscopy to advance biological research.
Founders: Clarice D. Aiello (PhD from MIT, world-leading quantum biology scientist) and Geoff Anders (Executive Director of Leverage Research).
( 3 ) Curetopia
To address the $1 trillion rare disease landscape by uniting families and patient communities.
Founder: Ethan Perlstein, Harvard PhD, entrepreneur, Y-Combinator alumnus.
4. Token Economics
$BIO is the native governance token of BIO Protocol. Holders can use $BIO to:
Ø Signal which BioDAOs are supported (Curation);
Ø Vote on future $BIO issuance or allocations;
Ø Implement the network development accelerator program.
$BIO provides the following benefits to holders:
Ø Governance of the BioDAOs network
Ø Participation rights in BioDAO’s early financing rounds
Ø Financial rewards for health data contribution and participation in clinical trials
Ø New health products funded by BioDAO
$BIO is issued by the Bio.xyz Association, a non-profit organization that serves as the legal steward of BIO’s infrastructure and finances.
( 1 ) Initial allocation
Ø Total supply: 3,320,000,000
Circulating supply: 39.05% (15% of which is in the BIO Protocol Treasury and requires a governance vote to unlock)
Ø Maximum supply: No upper limit, determined by BIO governance body voting
New BIO can be minted due to future protocol or network growth, but this requires deploying a new contract to replace the current BIO token contract.
( 2 ) Genesis Token Distribution
Ø Community: 56% (including: community auction: 20%, community airdrop: 6%, ecosystem incentives: 25%, Molecule Ecosystem Fund: 5%)
Ø Early supporters: 13.6%
Ø Early contributors: 21.2%
Ø Consultants: 4.2%
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% unlocked, 50% unlocked linearly over one year
The tokens obtained by other parties will be unlocked within 1-6 years respectively
3. Project Prospects
1. Industry analysis
The DeSci industry in which BIO Protocol operates is a new and rapidly developing field that is in the early stages of rapid development. 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 area of the cryptocurrency market highlights continued innovation and growing interest.
The key drivers of the DeSci industry include the following:
Decentralization of scientific research: Funding for traditional scientific research projects is usually concentrated in a few institutions. DeSci provides a fairer option and encourages the global community to participate.
Decentralized management of intellectual property rights: Through blockchain technology, IP of scientific research can be transparently recorded and distributed. This mechanism helps to 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 in 2025, with an average annual growth rate of more than 7%. The DeSci platform can capture a share of this market.
Strong and difficult to meet market demand: From the perspective of patients, suffering from illness, they are eager to get innovative treatment solutions faster, and they also hope to be deeply involved in scientific research decisions and have a voice for their own destiny; and some scientists have wonderful ideas but hope for sufficient financial support and efficient collaboration platforms; investors are looking for emerging investment opportunities in the market, and DeSci is like a gold mine waiting to be mined, which just meets the urgent demands of all parties.
The traditional scientific research model seems to be stuck in a quagmire, and has long been plagued by problems such as uneven funding distribution, slow transformation of results, and high scientific research barriers. DeSci has opened up a new scientific research paradigm with the help of cutting-edge concepts such as blockchain and tokenization. At present, DeSci has attracted a large number of innovators and investors to pour in, and many projects have sprung up, covering a wide range of fields such as longevity, neuroscience, and biotechnology, trying to reshape the scientific research ecosystem and inject new momentum into human technological progress.
2. Development Plan
On January 4, 2025, Paul Kohhaas, co-founder of BIO Protocol, released BIO Protocol’s January roadmap, including:
Ø Introducing 10 new DAOs;
Ø Release Rust and EVM startup platform contracts;
Ø Cross-chain $BIO to Solana and Base;
Ø Launched the genesis projects of Curetopia and Long COVID Labs;
Ø Start DeFi liquidity pairing;
Ø Released DeScAI agent (in collaboration with Vita Dao);
Ø Conduct the Token Generation Event (TGE) of Quantum Biology DAO;
Ø Start platform audit.
BIO Protocol’s immediate goals:
Ø Further expand the BioDAOs network to attract more scientists, patients and cryptocurrency communities;
Ø Launch user-friendly tools and platforms to lower the technical threshold for user participation;
Ø Support the active development of the ecosystem through the BIO token incentive mechanism.
BIO Protocol's long-term goals:
Ø Become a leader in the DeSci field and establish a global decentralized scientific research network;
Ø Promote the transformation of scientific research results funded by BioDAOs into the market, and achieve a win-win situation of economic and social benefits;
Ø Cooperate with government agencies and traditional scientific research organizations to further promote the decentralized scientific research model.
IV. Conclusion
BIO Protocol is an important innovator in the DeSci industry. By building a decentralized biotechnology research and commercialization ecosystem, it provides a fair and transparent cooperation platform for researchers, investors and patient communities. Its comprehensive token economic model and strong cooperation network make BIO Protocol have significant potential in the rapidly growing DeSci market.
Combining market demand, project team background and industry development trends, $BIO has a high long-term investment value. The initial price fluctuation may be large, but its unique ecological value is expected to gradually emerge in the long run. In addition, as the first DeSci project to issue coins on the Binance platform, it is recommended to give it a certain valuation premium. Investors can allocate $BIO appropriately 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 BIO Protocol may lead more innovative DeSci projects to join this wave.
