Zest Protocol, a Bitcoin lending-focused Stacks-based protocol, has raised $3.5 million in a seed round led by Draper Associates, the venture capital (VC) firm founded by legendary bitcoin investor Tim Draper. Binance Labs, Flow Traders, Trust Machines, and others followed Draper’s bet on the significance and impact Zest will have on bitcoin’s usability. Zest Protocol’s objective is to bring an almost native experience for bitcoin holders seeking to put their bitcoin to use in markets, using it for lending or yield-generating activities like in smart contracts-enabled blockchains. Users will fund their accounts using a simple BTC transaction, benefiting from the upcoming SBTC upgrade, which enables more secure and trustless movement of the base asset across layers.