Previously, Vitalik Buterin stated on social media that "PoW is also quite centralized, this is just a temporary phase before transitioning to PoS," sparking heated discussions in the community. As the spot ETF application process continues, topics related to Ethereum remain hot. However, beyond spot ETFs, what the Ethereum ecosystem needs most is DeFi vitality, and LSDFi is an undeniable force within it.

Recently, however, the crypto market has seen higher risk aversion sentiment, making liquidity extremely precious. Therefore, when searching for investment targets, it's crucial to find projects with high growth potential, strong backing, and reliable teams. In this context, the BNB ecosystem LSDFi project ListaDAO, which excels in its sector, investors, and team operations, has become a highly noteworthy choice.

ListaDAO was formerly known as Helio Protocol. In August 2023, Binance Labs invested $10 million in Helio Protocol. After its launch, ListaDAO has clearly rolled out two rounds of airdrop incentive tasks, boasts nearly 250,000 Twitter followers, and maintains close partnerships with BNB ecosystem projects. It also plans to expand to multi-chain ecosystems like Ethereum in the future. This article will provide readers with a detailed introduction to ListaDAO's core mechanisms, profitability, and advantages to understand the project's future potential and upside.

What is ListaDAO, the Binance-backed project with a public airdrop?

ListaDAO is an LSDFi project within the BNB ecosystem focused on Collateralized Debt Positions (CDP) and liquid staking, allowing users to mint stablecoins while staking LSD. Its core vision is to build a low-barrier DeFi protocol across multiple chains, starting with BNB, through a simple and efficient interface and mechanism, exploring various use cases like stablecoins and restaking under the Web3 necessity of "liquid staking."

In 2022, Helio Protocol, the predecessor of ListaDAO, was established with the goal of becoming the MakerDAO of the BNB Chain. In July 2023, Helio Protocol merged with Synclub, a staking infrastructure and liquid staking provider on the BNB Chain, and launched an LSDFi foundation, which became ListaDAO.

The name "Lista" is derived from the combination of "liquid" and "staking." The rise of liquid staking has not only reignited DeFi vitality in the Ethereum ecosystem but also spurred the BNB ecosystem to follow suit. In August 2023, Binance Labs invested $10 million in Helio Protocol to support its ongoing transformation into a liquid staking platform and expansion to other networks.

On ListaDAO, users can stake and liquid stake, as well as borrow lisUSD through various decentralized collateral. lisUSD is a decentralized stablecoin pegged to the US dollar, fully over-collateralized by crypto assets like BNB, ETH, slisBNB, wBETH, and BTCB.

Beyond traditional collateral, ListaDAO has introduced an Innovation Zone, supporting assets like Ether.fi's weETH, StakeStone's STONE, and Renzo's ezETH. ListaDAO has stated that more personalized collateral options will be added in the future.

Notably, slisBNB is ListaDAO's native yield and liquid staking token for BNB. slisBNB's appreciation aligns with BNB's APY, allowing users to freely earn additional yields on various DeFi platforms while passively receiving staking rewards.

Specifically, users can liquid stake BNB into slisBNB to earn BNB staking rewards and provide liquidity for slisBNB and lisUSD in pools like PancakeSwap and Thena Finance to earn trading and LP fees.

Since its launch, ListaDAO has conducted two official incentive campaigns in 2024, where users can earn points by completing tasks to convert into future airdrop allocations. Tasks include providing TVL on Lista, borrowing lisUSD, depositing BNB to mint slisBNB, providing lisUSD, and adding liquidity to slisBNB pools.

Different tasks have varying incentive weights. Thanks to its user-friendly interface and active operations, ListaDAO's TVL has grown significantly in recent months, peaking at $550 million, ranking third in the BNB ecosystem, with nearly 25,000 users holding lisUSD.

As of writing, the official website shows ListaDAO's TVL at $406,154,032, including $229 million in collateral value and $176 million in liquid staking value.

The high-efficiency "liquidity supermarket": A deep dive into ListaDAO's core mechanisms

ListaDAO's core role in the ecosystem is as a liquidity release hub. Based on the following points, ListaDAO can address most users' liquidity needs:

1. Users can mint lisUSD through ListaDAO's CDP business (over-collateralized lending) by pledging assets, thereby releasing liquidity.

2. Through its liquid staking business, users can participate in staking while maintaining asset liquidity with slisBNB.

3. ListaDAO's newly launched Innovation Zone adds eligible LSTs and LRTs to the collateral list, helping the ecosystem unlock more asset liquidity.

4. In the future, ListaDAO will also introduce restaking services, enhancing capital efficiency through LRTs while providing network security.

Beyond these initiatives, ListaDAO is actively working to improve liquidity utilization in the following areas:

First, ListaDAO will introduce multi-node delegation for slisBNB. Previously, ListaDAO managed its own validator node, Synclub. Last month, it announced an upgrade to multi-node delegation, where all BNB deposited into Lista will be used to mint slisBNB, and LSTs like BNBx, AnkrBNB, and stkBNB will be converted into slisBNB. This upgrade will not only increase yields but also simplify withdrawal processes and improve capital efficiency.

In February, ListaDAO announced the launch of lisBNB, a tokenized version of staked BNB, which acts as a loosely pegged stablecoin to BNB. 1 lisBNB always represents 1 BNB and the quantity of lisBNB in the ListaDAO ecosystem. Users can exchange lisBNB for BNB at a 1:1 ratio and vice versa. However, holding lisBNB alone does not qualify for staking rewards.

The purpose of lisBNB is to provide stability and maintain parity with BNB's value. Unlike slisBNB, lisBNB does not yield returns and does not appreciate relative to BNB. Readers may confuse it with slisBNB, but simply put, 1 lisBNB equals 1 BNB, while 1 slisBNB (interest-bearing) is worth more than 1 BNB.

Inspired by Frax Finance's hybrid algorithmic stablecoin model (frxETH and sfrxETH), lisBNB enables more liquidity mining strategies, such as lisBNB/BNB LP yields, which are expected to be highly lucrative, further enhancing ListaDAO's DeFi capital efficiency. According to official information, lisBNB is expected to gain broader adoption within the BNB ecosystem after its launch.

Currently, ListaDAO has close collaborations with numerous BNB ecosystem projects, including trading platforms like PancakeSwap, Thena Finance, APX, and Lynx, as well as lending platforms like Venus and Kinza.

Leveraging its strengths and these platforms' features, ListaDAO has introduced highly cost-effective and innovative functionalities. For example, on Venus, users can use lisUSD and slisBNB as collateral for borrowing or earning APR, or use lisUSD as margin for contract trading on APX, offering high efficiency, low slippage costs, and impressive value.

Users can trade with lisUSD on APX

ListaDAO's core revenue comes from fees, including interest on stablecoin loans and redemption fees. As a decentralized project, ListaDAO also rewards liquidity providers and other community members through DAO governance.

On May 6, ListaDAO announced a partnership with liquidity aggregation protocol Magpie, launching Listapie. Utilizing ListaDAO's veTokenomics mechanism, Listapie collects and locks LISTA tokens into veLISTA to enhance yields and governance power.

LISTA holders can also optimize rewards by converting their assets into mLISTA. By staking mLISTA on Listapie, users can earn a share of Listapie's revenue in LISTA tokens.

When users convert LISTA to mLISTA on Listapie, LISTA is immediately locked as veLISTA in ListaDAO. This mechanism ensures mLISTA holders receive more rewards while granting Listapie governance capabilities and higher yields on the platform.

LTP is Listapie's upcoming governance and profit-sharing token. LTP can be locked as vlLTP on Listapie, entitling holders to revenue shares and high-impact voting rights on ListaDAO.

Pool parameters, including size, reward rates, and liquidation rates, will be determined by ListaDAO votes. "We are a DAO; after deducting operational costs, profits are returned to contributors. For example, assets staked by users are delegated to nodes, and the Commission Fee shared by nodes with the DAO is distributed to ecosystem participants through our tokenomics," explained ListaDAO COO Terry.

As mentioned earlier, ListaDAO's name combines "Liquid" and "Restaking," but "Lista" has deeper meanings. In Spanish, "Lista" means "bright, ready, and smart." While it's natural for an LSDFi protocol to offer more liquidity and yield opportunities to stakers, ListaDAO aims to make LSD benefits accessible to more people. "Making DeFi Easier" is ListaDAO's enduring vision and mission, reflecting the profound meaning behind its name.

For ListaDAO's future, key priorities include expanding collaborations within the BNB ecosystem, successfully executing its multi-chain expansion to Ethereum, and the launch of the LISTA token. For now, the most rewarding plan for users is to participate in ListaDAO and benefit from its growth phase.