Binance Labs, the venture capital and incubation arm of Binance, which is being sued by US regulators for a wide range of issues while also dealing with major operational challenges, has invested in Initia, a network designed for highly interwoven modular rollups.
The platform enables developers “to build scalable and sovereign systems while abstracting away the fragmentation and complexities encountered with traditional modular and multi-chain systems.” This investment emphasizes Binance Labs‘ commitment “to supporting innovative infrastructure that will allow more Web2 developers to engage in the Web3 space.”
Initia is an L1 (Layer 1) on Cosmos “with application-specific L2s (Layer 2) using Optimistic rollups.”
Through Initia’s architecture, “encompassing the L1, L2, and communication layers, developers can easily launch application-specific blockchains as Initia L2s without needing to know complex chain-level infrastructure or run validator sets.”
Project teams can design their own economy and user experience, “incorporating features like native stablecoin and multi-chain bridging, in addition to just-in-time gas, ecosystem-wide asset fungibility, programmatic gas-free transactions, and account abstraction.”
Yi He, Co-Founder of Binance and Head of Binance Labs, commented:
“Binance Labs is continually identifying infrastructure providers introducing novel solutions to accelerate the growth of Web3 applications. Initia’s innovative architecture and tooling is a step forward towards widespread adoption among a new wave of developers.”
The Initia L1 is an interoperable network “that employs MoveVM, the first integration of the Move Smart Contracting Language natively compatible with Cosmos’ Inter-Blockchain Communication (IBC) protocol.”
Furthermore, Initia’s architecture enables L2s “to utilize EVM, WasmVM, or MoveVM while facilitating seamless messaging and bridging between them. Initia uses a robust economic system to align incentives throughout the entire ecosystem.”
The founding team reportedly “combines crypto native founders and researchers that have built multibillion TVL applications within the Cosmos and Ethereum ecosystems.”
To date, Initia has partnered “with numerous projects, including Binance Labs portfolio companies and top mobile game publishers worldwide.” The funds raised will “support the development of Initia’s infrastructure, the expansion of product tools, and the incubation of key application layer projects to expand the Initia ecosystem.”
Stan Liu, Core Contributor of Initia, said:
“We are thrilled to have Binance Labs as an early partner to accelerate the growth of Initia’s highly performant hub and bespoke blockchain platform. In collaboration with Binance Labs, Initia aims to underpin an interconnected ecosystem of applications, while simultaneously aligning the economic interests of all L1/2 users and operators.”