Binances venture arm Binance Labs has invested $10 million into Helio Protocol to help expand the protocol's ongoing pivot to becoming a liquid staking platform.

Though Helio is currently built on the proof-of-stake network BNB Chain, this new funding is expected to help the platform expand to other chains. "Helio's objective is to launch on Ethereum, and subsequently with prominent L2 networks like Arbitrum and Zksync," a Binance Labs spokesperson told Decrypt.

The move to enter the liquid staking sector is a recent one for Helio.

Liquid staking refers to the process of staking tokens to a network and receiving a different token representing that staked position in return. Often, the staked version of the tokencalled liquid staking tokens (LSTs)can then be reused in the world of decentralized finance. The largest staking platform on Ethereum, for example, is Lido Finance, which gives users Staked Ethereum (stETH) in exchange for depositing their ETH with the protocol.

A spokesperson for Binance Labs told Decrypt over email that the venture firm is bullishon the world of liquid staking, sometimes referred to liquid staking derivative finance or "

LSDfi protocols have opened up new opportunities for yield-seeking LST holders, and have experienced a rapid increase in TVL over the past few months, said Binance Labs. By providing additional use cases for liquid staking tokens, LSDfi has the potential to accelerate the growth of liquid staking by incentivizing staking participation towards higher capital efficiency.

Previously, Helio only offered stablecoin minting services, lettings users mint HAY, a dollar-pegged decentralized stablecoin thats backed by staking an over-collateralized amount of BNB. In practice, its similar to how Makers DAI and Aaves recently launched GHO stablecoin work.

In July, the Helio protocol merged with the staking provider Synclub and, that same month, it announced it had diversified the collateral it was using to back HAY. Synclub is also the second-largest staking provider for the BNB Chain, amassing more than 1 million BNB tokens.

Since then, Helio BNB deposits are seamlessly converted to a basket of LSTs like AnkrBNB (ANKR), snBNB (Synclub), BNBx (Stader), and stkBNB (Pstake). Although users account balances are denominated in BNB, they can opt to withdraw any of the above LSTs.

To date, Helio is the thirteenth largest DeFi protocol on the BNB Chain. It has 11,000 HAY holders who have deposited $300 million in total value locked (TVL), $260 million of which is staked in Synclubs validator node, making it the second-largest validator on BNB.

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Binance Labs Invests $10M to Accelerate Helio Protocol's Liquid Staking Pivot - Decrypt

If recent headlines are taken at face value, it looks like Binance, the worlds largest crypto exchange, could be exiting Europe.

Meanwhile, a string of rejections from EU regulators and voluntary withdrawals from several other markets gives the impression that Binance might be running out of options in Europe as well.

But with the EUs new Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) regulation coming in, the exchange may simply be contrary to Warren Buffets mantra on investing putting all its eggs in one basket by focusing most or all of its efforts on compliance in fewer EU countries. And that just might be what it needs right now to succeed in Europe in the long term.

Companies looking to operate in the European Union had to register or get licensed in each jurisdiction, but that wont be necessary when MiCA comes into effect in around 12 - 18 months.

You have to apply for one license in one country. And then you get almost like a passport to provide your services across all 27 EU member states, said Emilien Bernard-Alzias, partner at law firm Simmons & Simmons LLP.

Like other crypto exchanges, Binance also bet big on Europe, applying for licenses and registrations in several countries in an effort to serve as many markets as possible.

At press time, Binance was registered with regulators in France, Italy, Lithuania, Spain, Poland and Sweden, according to its website. Of those countries, where Binance chooses to focus its resources on to become MiCA compliant may matter and the exchange says it will be flexible to become a regulated entity.

MiCA is a pragmatic solution to the shared issues that the industry and regulators face together. It provides a clear route to compliant access to the single market for businesses while also providing strong guardrails that protect users while supporting innovation, a spokesperson for Binance said in an emailed statement to CoinDesk. With existing registrations in six EU countries, Binance stands ready to make any necessary changes to our business during the implementation period to fully comply with MiCAs requirements.

It matters which EU countries crypto exchanges seek approval in at this stage, because not all nations are equally ready to implement MiCA, Bernard-Alzias said.

Meanwhile, other jurisdictions like France and Germany have established more robust crypto licensing regimes that involve thorough examinations of the makeup and management of a business before approving registration or licenses.

According to Anika Patz, associated partner at law firm YPOG, crypto firms in general dont get licenses easily in Germany thanks to a diligent regulator looking to avoid another scandal like FTX or Wirecard, where the payment processor committed accounting fraud to hide losses for at least five years until its insolvency in 2020.

Crypto custodians that wanted to operate in Germany had the chance to enter in a grandfathering period where the firms needed to apply for a license under the German Banking Act but were allowed to continue operating under a preliminary license. To obtain a license, providers have to build up their organization with people on the ground, including robust compliance and risk management teams as well as sufficient IT knowledge and infrastructure to prove to BaFin that the business is legitimate, according to Patz.

If you propose a business where basically none of your infrastructures based in Europe If you outsource all of your functions to third countries, and you have two people on the ground here [in Germany], [BaFin] cannot really say you are in charge of your business. And it will not provide your license, Patz said.

Patz and Bernard-Alzias agree Germany has a complex licensing process for crypto firms compared to other EU member states which is modeled after the EUs Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID II) and crypto firms that are already licensed under the German regime will be able to transition smoothly into the MiCA regime. But Bernard-Alzias contends that the stringent regime might also be the reason there arent too many crypto firms based in Germany.

If you are a MiFID firm, honestly, its quite easy for you to become a crypto asset service provider under MiCA because Germanys MiFID regime is even more complicated and for more complex firms, Bernard-Alzias said. But the fact is there are not many crypto service providers in Germany because of that, he added.

Although theres no saying if or when Binance might finally win a French crypto license, given BaFins track record for approving crypto firms, France might be its likely path to MiCA compliance and that may be the case for many companies looking to enter the single market.

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Why Binance Is Abandoning Most of Europe - CoinDesk

Leading cryptocurrency exchange Binance has announced its delisted two perptual futures contracts, specifically USD-M ADABUSD and MATICBUSD Perpetual Contracts, by August 17.

According to the announcement, the contracts will no longer be available on August 17 by 09:00 UTC,, with other significant adjustments being made ahead of the delistings. Effective on August 10, , Binance Futures will implement alterations to the leverage and margin tiers for these particular contracts.

Due to the impending changes, theres a tangible risk of liquidation for traders who may not adjust in time. Hence, Binance Futures urges its users to review their current position and leverage on these contracts, recommending that necessary adjustments be made prior to the scheduled update to sidestep any unforeseen liquidation.

While the exchange didnt clarify why its delisting these two perpetual contracts, its possible the move is related to their reliance on Binance USD (BUSD), the stablecoin the cryptocurrency exchange had been using. Its issuer, Paxos, is no longer allowed to mint new coins after regulators cracked down on it.

Its worth noting perpetual contracts are a type of futures contract with no expiry date. Traders who open positions on these derivatives are essentially betting on whether the value of an asset will rise or fall, and may have to pay or receive funding fees while their position is open.

The announcement comes a day after Binance secured dual licenses in El Salvador in an achievement that positions it as the first crypto exchange in the nation to be fully licensed, emphasizing its adherence to regulatory standards.

According to Binancesblog post, El Salvadors Central Reserve Bank has granted Binance the Bitcoin Services Provider license (BSP). In tandem, the National Commission of Digital Assets has awarded Binance the non-provisional Digital Assets Services Provider license (DASP).

These licenses provide a regulatory framework for Binances operations in the country and indicate the potential for the exchange to introduce specialized offerings for the Salvadoran populace.

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Binance Futures Axes Two Perpetual Contracts Tied to $ADA and $MATIC - CryptoGlobe

Binance is still the world's biggest crypto exchange. But, how important is BNB to the company? | Credit: Shutterstock

Key Takeaways

The company created by Changpeng Zhao, a Canadian of Chinese heritage, managed to establish its dominance in the crypto market since its founding in 2017.

Binance managed to succeed against the tides created by the collapse of FTX, formerly its biggest competitor in the market until the start of 2023. Ever since Binance has been a household name when it comes to crypto trading.

Although the company is now facing endless scrutiny in the Western market from lawsuits in the US to a mass exit in Europe Binance has managed to keep its business afloat with reports showing its ability to cover more than 100% of its customers needs.

But, just like other major crypto institutions such as FTX, Celsius, and Terraform Labs, Binance is prone to a downfall one day. If thats the case, what signs should we look out for?

Binance released a proof-of-reserves report, a way to reassure customers that the company has enough in its vaults to cover withdrawals at any point.

The report shows that Binance has an abundance of Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, USDC, and of course, its native token, BNB.

What the company doesnt mention in its PoR is how much of its native coin its founder, management, and staff hold. A report from Fortune claimed that Binance staff holds somewhere between 60 million and 70 million BNB tokens, and Binance did not refute the claim. Thats over 40% of the total 153.86 million BNB coins in circulation.

If we take the claims above as credible information, then we can assume that Binance staff, including its founder CZ, holds more than $14 billion in BNB (the token is priced at ~$240 at the time of publishing). Crunching up the numbers would lead to a logical conclusion that BNB is the key vault for Binances capital.

It was even reported that when Silvergate Bank collapsed, causing a serious hit to the US Dollar, Binance offloaded a large sum of USDC Circles stablecoin that pegs its value against the US Dollar in exchange for BNB.

As we mentioned earlier, Binance is facing serious legal heat in the US. The regulating body for digital assets, the SEC, filed thirteen lawsuits against the exchange, claiming that Binance committed wash trading, commingled customer funds, and evaded US regulators.

As a result, BNB took a serious hit to its price, and the company was forced to halt all US Dollar trades on its platform.

Moreover, Binance is reportedly not doing well in Europe. The exchange has so far been either evicted from or investigated in several European countries, including the UK, Netherlands, Germany, and Cyprus.

But Binance managed to find ways to mitigate the damage done. The exchange managed to trade $90 Billion in crypto in China where its illegal to do so.

Binance also entered the Japanese market by taking over an existing exchange, signaling a mass shift to the Eastern market.

We mentioned earlier how BNB essentially marks the companys financial well-being. Considering the amount of tokens Binance staff holds, it would be ludicrous to start selling it en mass at any point. Unless theres a dire need to.

If company executives, including CZ, hold a majority of BNBs total availability that means theyre betting on its value increasing over time.

Should the company start facing financial troubles, BNB should be the last token to resort to as investors, customers, and other stakeholders would immediately take notice.

If Binance ever offloads significant sums of BNB, the market would immediately react by selling their own tokens due to fears of it crashing.

If that ever happens, it would mean that the exchange is trying to come up with enough liquidity to cover customers needs in other tokens, meaning that their vaults are depleting.

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Binance Revenue Falling: Will Exchange Sell BNB to Save its Future? - CCN.com