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Blockchain usability firm Dapix has scored $5.7 million funding, spearheaded by Binance’s venture arm Binance Labs to launch a new decentralized blockchain protocol called the Foundation of Interwallet Operability’s (FIO) Usability Protocol.
Blockwall Capital, NGC Ventures, and LuneX Ventures also participated in the funding round. Other existing investors include Access Venture Partners and Dundee Venture Capital.
As per a press release, the funding will help Dapix launch the FIO mainnet earlier than expected, now targeting the first quarter of 2020, and develop new products and features that can be made available to FIO members.
The protocol, which is a decentralized, open-source blockchain protocol intended to enhance usability across several blockchains, tokens, and coins, could lower the barrier to entry in crypto by removing the need to understand private keys and public addresses. It can also work with other blockchains as a service layer to reduce risks and complexity in sending and receiving tokens across different blockchains.
Dapix CEO and Co-Founder David Gold said that the Foundation of Interwallet Operability, which is a consortium of major crypto wallet services, exchanges, and crypto payment processors supporting the FIO protocol, now has 25 members.
“The FIO Protocol will be the industry standard usability layer for the entire blockchain ecosystem,” he said. Current notable FIO members include ShapeShift, Roger Ver’s Bitcoin.com, and Binance’s Trust Wallet.
“Our primary goal with the FIO Address Presale is not to generate the most income possible; it’s to generate engagement with the FIO Protocol,” Gold said, adding that it aims to attract many people to “reserve a FIO domain in advance so they’re ready to use it with their FIO-enabled wallet as soon as mainnet goes live.”
The news follows Binance's recent announcement of a new developer-focused initiative that aims to encourage blockchain innovation. Dubbed as Binance X, the initiative aims to educate, engage, and empower developers to improve and build blockchain-based projects including the Binance Chain, Binance.com APIs, Trust Wallet Core SDK, and Binance Charity donation platform.
