Berachain, an Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM)-compatible Layer 1 blockchain, has gained the attention of industry giants. Infrared, a liquid staking protocol built on the Berachain ecosystem, has recently secured an undisclosed investment from Binance Labs, the $10 billion venture capital and incubation arm of the crypto exchange Binance.
Infrared: Unlocking Liquidity in Berachain
Infrared is one of the early projects in the Berachain Foundation’s “Build-A-Bera” program. The protocol is developing two liquid staking tokens, iBGT and iBERA, for Berachain’s two key tokens: BGT (the governance token) and BERA (the gas token). This is particularly significant as Berachain’s BGT token is non-transferable and non-liquid, similar to a soulbound token.
With Infrared, Berachain validators can stake their BERA tokens to earn rewards while maintaining liquidity, eliminating the need to manage their own validator infrastructure. This innovative approach is expected to drive greater participation and engagement within the Berachain ecosystem.
Binance Labs’ Strategic Investment
Binance Labs’ investment in Infrared marks the venture firm’s first foray into the Berachain ecosystem. Raito Bear, the pseudonymous co-founder and CEO of Infrared, revealed that the funding round was structured as a simple agreement for future tokens (SAFT).
Earlier this year, Infrared had raised $2.5 million in a seed funding round from prominent investors, including NGC Ventures, Tribe Capital, Shima Capital, and Signum Capital. The current funding from Binance Labs aims to support Infrared’s continued development, team expansion, and protocol audits.
Looking Ahead: Infrared’s Roadmap
Infrared is currently under development and is expected to launch on the Berachain V2 testnet “very soon,” according to Bear. This will allow the protocol to gather user feedback and refine the platform before the mainnet launch.
In the future, Infrared plans to introduce its own token, IRED, further enhancing the liquidity and functionality within the Berachain ecosystem. The team is actively hiring for key positions, including a senior back-end blockchain engineer, a senior front-end engineer, and a developer relations lead, to bolster their capabilities.
As the Berachain project continues to gain momentum, Infrared’s strategic partnership with Binance Labs could pave the way for increased adoption and innovation in the decentralized finance (DeFi) landscape.
