2024-05-14
Zest, a bitcoin lending protocol, has successfully raised $3.5 million in funding. This investment will enable bitcoin (BTC) holders to utilize their assets on-chain and generate yield.
The seed raise was led by prominent investor Tim Draper, with participation from Binance Labs, Flow Traders, Trust Machines, and others. The announcement was made by Zest Protocol via email on Monday.
Zest Protocol leverages the Nakamoto upgrade by Bitcoin layer 2 Stacks and the bridging asset sBTC (which is pegged 1:1 to bitcoin) to provide a lending experience that is fully integrated with the world's largest blockchain network.
To fund their balance on Zest Protocol, users will utilize sBTC to transfer bitcoin, which operates on the Stacks mainnet.
Subsequently, they will have the opportunity to engage in lending or other yield-generating activities.
According to Tycho Onnasch, the founder of Zest Protocol, "Bitcoin L2s like Stacks are poised to play a vital role in unlocking Bitcoin DeFi.
Unlike Ethereum, the creation of fundamental DeFi elements such as liquidity pools is not feasible on Bitcoin L1.
The Stacks' sBTC upgrade is expected to be a pivotal moment for Bitcoin DeFi, as it was the original intention."
