Binance Labs Invests in BIO Protocol to Boost Decentralized Science
This week’s election coverage overshadowed funding news, though some significant deals emerged. Here are the highlights.
Binance Labs Investment
Binance Labs entered the decentralized science (DeSci) space by investing in BIO Protocol through its $10 billion venture arm. The investment amount was not disclosed. Binance described BIO as a "Y Combinator for onchain Science."
Read more: BIO protocol is pushing scientific funding onchain
Tether's Crude Oil Transaction
Tether announced financing for a crude oil transaction involving 670,000 barrels of Middle Eastern crude oil, valued at approximately $45 million. This marked Tether Investments’ first crude oil deal in the region, indicating its growing role in global commodities trading.
Read more: Digital yuan used to settle crude oil trade for Chinese oil company: Report
Pharos Seed Round
The Pharos layer-1 protocol closed an $8 million seed round led by Lightspeed Faction and Hack VC. Other investors included MH Ventures, Reforge, and Hash Global. The funding will accelerate development of the Pharos protocol and foster ecosystem growth.
Pharos CEO Alex Zhang stated the aim is to integrate fintech services with trustless Web3 innovations to onboard new users and real-world assets into the Web3 ecosystem.