## **Overview** Injective Protocol is a decentralized finance (DeFi) platform that offers a DEX for derivatives and futures trading. It allows for permissionless trading with zero gas fees and operates on a layer-2 blockchain, ensuring high speed and scalability. The platform supports various financial markets, including cryptocurrency, synthetics, and NFTs. ## **History** Injective was first publicly [announced](https://medium.com/binance-labs/season-1-binance-labs-incubation-program-buidlers-season-1-ec34b601ccd#:\~:text=Injective%20Protocol%20%E2%80%94%20The%20New%20Standard%20for%20Decentralized%20Exchange) as a project within the [Binance Labs Incubation Program](https://medium.com/binance-labs/binance-labs-incubation-program-fa709cde8644) in 2018. Eric Chen and Albert Chon [founded](https://crebaco.com/planner/admin/uploads/whitepapers/7492999injective-protocol.pdf) the project [to create](https://injectiveprotocol.medium.com/introducing-injective-protocol-the-new-dawn-for-decentralized-finance-87046c29d90c#:\~:text=The%20Injective%20Chain%20is,issues%20present%20on%20Ethereum.) an [IBC](https://cosmos.network/ibc/)\-enabled network that allowed Ethereum-based assets to be traded on its decentralized exchange (DEX). On Nov. 30, 2020, Injective’s first testnet, [Solstice](https://medium.com/injective-labs/solstice-testnet-early-access-launch-7aaafc8cc392), went live for early access users. On Dec. 21, 2020, the Solstice testnet publicly [launched](https://medium.com/injective-labs/solstice-v2-public-launch-d87515d48293), allowing any user to participate. On Feb. 2, 2021, [Equinox Staking](https://medium.com/injective-labs/equinox-staking-launch-the-final-injective-testnet-d7396ded43d7) began on testnet, allowing validators to begin onboarding. Equinox Staking later went [public](https://medium.com/injective-labs/injective-equinox-staking-public-launch-30f1a1154ede) for all testnet users on March 29, 2021, enabling delegation. On June 26, 2021, Injective [initiated](https://medium.com/injective-labs/mainnet-phase-one-peggy-bridge-launch-and-equinox-staking-rewards-3d41b54b18fd) the first of three phases for a mainnet launch by deploying The [Injective Bridge](https://etherscan.io/address/0xf955c57f9ea9dc8781965feae0b6a2ace2bad6f3). The bridge enables cross-chain transfers of ERC-20 tokens on Ethereum to Injective. On June 30, 2021, the second phase began with the [launch](https://medium.com/injective-labs/injective-mainnet-phase-two-canary-chain-launch-2ed7a57377f0) of the Injective Canary Chain, where users could trade using real assets for the first time on Injective. On Nov. 8, 2021, Injective’s mainnet officially [launched](https://medium.com/injective-labs/injective-canonical-chain-mainnet-release-5346d91aaecf) with the release of Injective’s Canonical Chain. On Jan. 28, 2022, the Injective Bridge was [upgraded](https://medium.com/injective-labs/injective-bridge-v2-release-cross-chain-interoperability-across-cosmos-and-ethereum-a1cb89d36906) to a V2 version, thereby enabling assets from IBC-enabled chains to be bridged to Injective. On July 5, 2022, Injective [upgraded](https://medium.com/injective-labs/mainnet-chain-upgrade-smart-contracts-are-now-live-on-injective-a570fcd5e8cd) and enabled smart contract support through [CosmWasm](https://docs.injective.network/develop/guides/cosmwasm-dapps/). Furthermore, Wormhole’s [integration](https://medium.com/injective-labs/wormhole-is-now-live-on-injective-e85d6e4dbd4b) on Dec. 15, 2022, enabled assets from Solana and various EVM-compatible blockchains to also be bridged to Injective. On Jan. 25, 2023, the project team [announced](https://blog.injective.com/en/introducing-the-150m-injective-ecosystem-fund/) the Injective Ecosystem Group, a $150 million initiative to fund development within the Injective ecosystem. Then, the project team introduced a new form of INJ incentives with the [launch](https://medium.com/injective-labs/open-liquidity-program-olp-launch-585ebfbf5ea0) of the [Open Liquidity Program](https://trading.injective.network/program/liquidity/) (OLP) on June 6, 2023. The OLP aims to incentivize users to provide liquidity to the Injective order book. On Aug. 16, 2023, the INJ 2.0 upgrade went [live](https://blog.injective.com/en/inj-burn-2-0/), enabling all applications built on Injective to have the option of [contributing](https://docs.injective.network/develop/tech-concepts/auction_pool/?ref=blog.injective.com) additional tokens to the weekly Burn Auction pool.