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Bella Protocol
Bella Protocol is an algorithmic yield aggregator founded in 2020 by Anna Zheng, automating DeFi portfolio management across Ethereum and BSC.
Bella Protocol
Bella Protocol launched in September 2020 as one of the earliest DeFi yield aggregators to bring discretionary strategy vaults to Ethereum and Binance Smart Chain. Co-founders Anna Zheng and Tommy Lim, both experienced in blockchain engineering and quantitative finance, designed the protocol to sit between retail users and core lending protocols (Composure, Aave, Uniswap) — offering automated rebalancing without requiring users to write code. The initial $5M funding round was led by Arrington XRP Capital and included participation from LD Capital, signaling early cross-border institutional interest in algorithmic DeFi management. The protocol's core product, Bubble, is a yield-optimization tool that allocates deposits across pooled strategies, targeting stablecoin yields initially then expanding to leveraged positions. Asset classes covered include lending, liquidity provision, and yield farming — each strategy selected by a community governance vote or by Bella's risk-scoring models. Geographical deployment concentrated in Asia (Singapore, Beijing) and Europe (London, Utrecht), though the protocol itself operates on global, permissionless blockchains. Total value locked (TVL) peaked at approximately $200M in late 2021, per DeFi Llama, before the crypto bear market drove it lower. The team has remained roughly 15–20 engineers and strategists through 2024, with no disclosed AUM as a traditional asset manager. The protocol does not maintain a separately reported philanthropic foundation, though it has allocated tokens to ecosystem grants via the Bella DAO. Bella's structural differentiator is its hybrid governance model: token holders vote on vault strategies, but a core team maintains coordinated execution — blending DAO-driven direction with centralized operational discipline (per the firm's whitepaper, September 2020). This federated approach sits between fully decentralized protocols (Yearn Finance) and fully closed crypto hedge funds, aiming for the speed of the latter with the transparency of the former.
General information
Firm type
Asset Manager
Year founded
2020
AUM
Undisclosed
Location
Region
Asia
Country
Singapore
City
Singapore
Corporate office
Singapore, Singapore
Additional offices
London, United Kingdom · Utrecht, Netherlands · Beijing, China
Principals
Anna Zheng
Co-Founder
Tommy Lim
Co-Founder
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who runs investment decisions at Bella Protocol?
Co-founders Anna Zheng and Tommy Lim lead product strategy and protocol development. Strategy vaults are proposed by the core team and ratified by token-holder governance. Day-to-day operations are run by a team of engineers and analysts based in Singapore, London, Utrecht, and Beijing.
How does Bella Protocol source proprietary strategies?
Bella develops yield strategies in-house, drawing on quantitative models and risk-scoring algorithms. The protocol also accepts strategy proposals from the community via the Bella DAO, which are then vetted by the core team before deployment.
Is Bella Protocol structured as a company or a DAO?
Bella operates a hybrid structure: a core development company (likely registered in Singapore) handles execution, while governance over vault strategies and treasury management is distributed to token holders via the Bella DAO. This federated model preserves operational efficiency while maintaining community oversight.
Does Bella Protocol accept capital from external allocators or only from retail users?
The protocol accepts deposits from any address — retail, institutional, or fund — without minimums or restrictions. There are no disclosed separate managed accounts or institutional share classes. Allocations are pooled into vault strategies, with fees (performance and management) deducted at the protocol level.
What makes Bella Protocol different from other DeFi yield aggregators like Yearn Finance?
Bella emphasizes automated portfolio rebalancing across multiple pre-defined strategies using a point-and-click interface (Bubble). While Yearn relies on community-curated vaults with manual strategy management, Bella integrates AI-driven optimization for strategy selection and rebalancing, as described in their Bubble v2 launch in May 2024.
Profile maintained by Altss using OSINT (open-source intelligence), regulatory filings, licensed data partners, and verified direct submissions. Read the methodology. Last updated: . Continuous refresh with full update cycles at least every 30 days.
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