Kernel DAO, a restaking infrastructure platform, has secured an undisclosed amount in funding from Binance Labs, Binance's corporate venture capital arm. This round brings the company's total funding to USD 10 million, having previously raised funding from investors such as SCB Limited, Laser Digital, Bankless Ventures, Hypersphere, and Draper Dragon, among several others.

The company plans to launch its new Kernel protocol on BNB Chain using BNB Liquid Staking Tokens (LSTs) and restaked BNB. It intends to expand this service by incorporating Bitcoin and its derivatives into its restaking framework.

Analyst QuickTake: Binance Labs has been steadily ramping up its investment activity in the DeFi space over the last year, particularly within the crypto-staking space. The company invested undisclosed amounts in Babylon Labs ( in February ) and Bouncebit ( in April ), which are Bitcoin-based staking platforms. In August , it participated in a USD 12 million funding round in Solana's staking platform, Solayer . Notably, this funding also represents the company's second major investment in expanding the restaking capabilities of its native BNB blockchain since it invested in Helio Protocol last August .