Bio Protocol (BIO) is a curation and liquidity protocol for Decentralized Science (DeSci) on Ethereum (ERC-20), its canonical chain, with additional deployments on BNB Smart Chain, Base, and Solana.
The protocol lets communities of patients, scientists, and biotech professionals collectively fund, build, and own tokenized biotech projects and intellectual property through individual "BioDAOs" launched on its platform.
Bio Protocol differentiates itself by generalizing a biotech intellectual-property tokenization model into a repeatable launchpad for many independent "BioDAOs," rather than funding a single research effort.
BIO holders stake the token for veBIO voting power, linking ownership directly to which biotech projects receive funding. In September 2025 the protocol raised $6.9 million from investors including Maelstrom Fund and Animoca Brands and launched its first "BioAgent," Aubrai.
BIO functions as both a governance and utility token on Ethereum.
Holders stake BIO to receive vote-escrowed "veBIO" and to earn "BioXP" loyalty points, which together grant governance voting power and early access to Ignition Sale token offerings via the BIO Launchpad.
Total supply is approximately 3.32 billion BIO, described as uncapped and subject to governance changes; circulating supply is approximately 2.1 billion tokens as of 2026-09-02.
Ongoing token-supply inflation is measured as elevated relative to peer tokens, consistent with the large uncapped, vesting-driven issuance schedule.
Bio Protocol's token contract was deployed on Ethereum on 2024-05-17, though public trading began later via a token generation event and Binance Launchpool listing in late December 2024–January 2025.
Binance Labs made its first-ever Decentralized Science investment through a seed round in Bio Protocol announced November 8, 2024. An earlier "BIO Genesis" round raised $6 million, with reported Genesis token holders including 1kx, Boost VC, and Northpond Ventures.
Bio Protocol's canonical deployment is Ethereum (ERC-20), the chain used for pricing and its original deployment.
The same BIO contract is also deployed on BNB Smart Chain and Base, and a separate deployment exists on Solana.
Paul Kohlhaas is identified as Founder and CEO of Bio Protocol. He previously founded Molecule, a biotech IP tokenization platform, co-founded VitaDAO, described as the largest decentralized longevity-science community, and has prior experience at ConsenSys and on Swiss government blockchain initiatives.
Clemens Ortlepp is identified as Co-founder and Chief Product Officer, previously Product Director at Molecule. Elliott Brunet is referenced as involved in technology.
Bio Protocol is developed under the bio.xyz brand as a curation and liquidity protocol for Decentralized Science.
Its mission is to let global communities of patients, scientists, and biotech professionals collectively fund, build, and own tokenized biotech projects and intellectual property. The same team previously built Molecule and VitaDAO before generalizing that model into Bio Protocol's multi-BioDAO platform, which hosts projects such as Quantum Biology DAO, Long Covid Labs, and Curetopia.
Bio Protocol is governed by BIO holders who stake tokens for vote-escrowed "veBIO" voting power.
veBIO holders decide which new BioDAO projects are curated onto the network, how the protocol treasury is allocated, and vote on protocol upgrades and token issuance. Staking also earns "BioXP" points that grant access to early Ignition Sale token offerings. BioXP Season 2, in Q4 2025, removed social-engagement-based XP earning to concentrate influence on long-term staking.
Recent and announced development centers on expanding the BioDAO launchpad and AI-linked research tooling rather than a single core-protocol release.
Bio Protocol's BIO token contract is tracked by CertiK Skynet with a score of 84.12 (Grade A).
CertiK's automated token-scan checks found the contract owner privilege renounced, with no self-destruct function and no backdoor to regain ownership. Holder concentration is a structural risk: the top 10 addresses hold approximately 59% of supply, and the top 50 hold approximately 80%, though this may include treasury and vesting-contract addresses.