ChainCatcher news, according to Cointelegraph, the Binance-supported Bitcoin DeFi protocol Zest has launched a yield-bearing token BTCz. The new BTCz token will allow Bitcoin holders to earn Bitcoin equity returns through the Babylon protocol.

ChainCatcher news, Zest Protocol co-founder Tycho Onnasch believes that the BTC DeFi ecosystem will surpass the ETH DeFi ecosystem in the future. Onnasch thinks that once enough Bitcoin Layer 2 solutions (L2) are deployed and gain user trust, the Bitcoin DeFi ecosystem will rival Ethereum, and may even surpass it.

ChainCatcher news, Zest Protocol co-founder Tycho Onnasch stated that adding new programming features to Bitcoin can help offset Ethereum's early advantage in deploying decentralized finance (DeFi) on the first layer (L1).Onnasch believes that once enough Bitcoin second layer solutions (L2) are deployed and gain user trust, the Bitcoin DeFi ecosystem will be comparable to Ethereum, and may even surpass it.

BlockBeats news, on May 14, the Stacks ecosystem startup Zest announced the completion of a $3.5 million seed round financing, led by Tim Draper, with participation from Binance Labs, Flow Traders, Trust Machines, and others. This is the first investment by Binance Labs in a Stacks ecosystem project, indicating that Binance Labs is beginning to strengthen its focus on BTC Layer 2. Tim Draper has previously invested in SpaceX, Tesla, and Coinbase.Zest Protocol founder Tycho Onnasch stated, "Bitcoin L2s like Stacks will play a key role in unlocking Bitcoin DeFi. Unlike Ethereum, it is impossible to create basic DeFi primitives like liquidity pools on Bitcoin L1. The Stacks sBTC upgrade will be a watershed moment for Bitcoin DeFi, which is also the intention behind its design from the very beginning." According to the official Stacks plan, the SBTC upgrade is expected to be released in August this year.Additionally, the Web3 asset data platform RootData shows that Stacks is a Bitcoin L2 that brings smart contract functionality to Bitcoin without modifying Bitcoin itself. Stacks employs a pyramid approach, with a foundational settlement layer (Bitcoin) at the bottom, then adding a smart contract and programmability layer (Stacks) on top of it, and finally a layer for scalability and speed (Hiro's subnet) on top of that.

ChainCatcher news, Bitcoin lending protocol Zest Protocol has completed a $3.5 million seed round financing, led by Tim Draper, with participation from Binance Labs, Flow Traders, Trust Machines, and others.The protocol utilizes the Nakamoto upgrade of the Bitcoin Layer 2 stack and bridges the asset sBTC (pegged 1:1 with Bitcoin) to create a fully native lending service on the Bitcoin network.Additionally, the Web3 asset data platform RootData shows that Zest Protocol is a Bitcoin lending protocol that enables Bitcoin liquidity providers to earn Bitcoin yields through professionally managed lending pools, which lend to the most reputable borrowers in the cryptocurrency space. For borrowers, Zest directly offers on-chain Bitcoin loans against their balance sheets.

ChainCatcher news, according to official news from Zest Protocol, the Zest Protocol has been attacked, but user balances are safe. The attacker removed 324k STX from the protocol, and this amount will be reimbursed from the Zest protocol treasury, allowing users to return to their original state.The Zest protocol will suspend services until further notice. User holdings will remain unaffected until the protocol reopens.Zest Protocol will offer a reward of $100,000 to whistleblowers providing information about the attacker.

ChainCatcher message, on-chain data shows that Huang Licheng staked part of the SOL (156,300 coins) raised for the meme project Bobaoppa into the Solana ecosystem staking protocol BlazeStake at 12:56 Beijing time today, exchanging it for 139,556.77 bSOL, worth approximately 31.13 million USD.Currently, the fundraising address (starting with CZ5aEK) holds, in addition to the aforementioned bSOL, 96 wSOL, about 70 SOL, and 2,727 USDC, among others.

ChainCatcher news, the DeFi protocol Zest Protocol has completed its first round of financing and will launch on the Blast mainnet. This round of financing was led by Youbi Capital, and the specific amount raised has not been disclosed.The DeFi product launched by Zest Protocol on the Blast Layer2 platform aims to provide high-yield collateralized stablecoin solutions. It separates the yield of Blast ETH from price fluctuations in a unique way and has introduced two innovative products: zUSD (a stablecoin providing leveraged yield on Blast ETH) and mirrorETH (on-chain leveraged Ethereum derivatives with no funding fees).In addition, Zest Protocol will open the genesis pool pre-deposit on the Blast mainnet today, allowing users to earn Blast rewards, Blast Points, and Zest Points.