Latest news with #Boiron
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Polygon Labs and market maker GSR launch DeFi-focused blockchain
Polygon Labs became a darling of the 2021 and 2022 crypto boom when it partnered with corporate stalwarts like Starbucks and Meta on various blockchain projects. But, as those brand-name companies quietly dropped their experiments amid the ensuing 'Crypto Winter,' Polygon Labs searched for other ways to popularize its network. On Wednesday, the company, along with the crypto market making firm GSR, announced the launch of the newest blockchain it's helped incubate: Katana. Instead of catering towards corporate clients, Katana is aimed at 'degens'—crypto slang for traders with a high appetite for risk who often use DeFi, or decentralized finance, platforms. Those platforms offer decentralized versions of traditional banking services like lending and borrowing. Rather than borrowing money from JPMorgan Chase, for example, DeFi users borrow from a decentralized pool of funds fronted by other crypto traders. Katana is the latest sign from Polygon Labs, founded in 2017 and one of the marquee companies of the last crypto cycle, that the firm is more explicitly focusing on crypto traders rather than brand names. Polygon's tie-ups with Meta, which focused on NFTs, and Starbucks, which built out a blockchain-based loyalty program, attracted widespread acclaim from the crypto industry in 2022. But, in 2023 and 2024, the two Fortune 500 companies abandoned their experiments with the blockchain company, respectively. Since then, Polygon Labs has built out its DeFi team, and Marc Boiron, the CEO of the company, has even branded himself 'the degen CEO' on X. 'The key is: What are people actually doing on chain, rather than what looks good because it's a big name?' Boiron told Fortune. And what users are doing 'on chain,' or on blockchains, are trading, lending, and borrowing. To that end, Katana has brought on Morpho, a decentralized borrowing and lending protocol; Sushi, which lets users swap and buy cryptocurrencies; and Vertex, an application for trading crypto futures, or bets on the upcoming prices of cryptocurrencies. Boiron said that Katana's biggest differentiator is how it prioritizes its core DeFi applications over competitors. On other blockchains, user funds may be split, for example, across several competing lending and borrowing applications. When funds are divided, users face markets where prices rise or fall abruptly in a matter of seconds. Katana, a layer-2 blockchain on Ethereum, aims to combat this through incentivizing only a handful of DeFi applications in its ecosystem. To do this, the blockchain will distribute fees generated from users on the protocol back to the users of its preferred DeFi applications—among other incentives. The blockchain is currently open to select users and will go public in late June. This story was originally featured on
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Polygon, GSR Release Katana Network Tackle DeFi Fragmentation
Katana, a new decentralized finance (DeFi)-focused blockchain incubated by industry heavyweights Polygon and GSR, shared on Wednesday that its private mainnet has gone live. The new layer-2 blockchain will unify 'all liquidity in a set of protocols and collect yield from all potential sources," the team shared in a press release sent to CoinDesk. Katana's goal is "to power a self-sustaining DeFi engine for long-term growth,' it said. Marc Boiron, the CEO of Polygon Labs, told CoinDesk that Katana emerged to address DeFi fragmentation, where digital assets are distributed across various apps and ecosystems, making certain types of investing cumbersome. Katana was built using AggLayer — Polygon's platform for building interoperable blockchains. 'One of the things that we want is a super deep liquidity hub on the AggLayer, so that every chain can tap into that,' Boiron said. 'When you look across everything in crypto, what you realize is that there's actually no chain that's built very well for actually having deep liquidity.' Katana aims to improve blockchain liquidity — including lending, trading, and yield bearing strategies — by integrating with popular apps like Sushi, a major decentralized exchange, and Morpho, a popular decentralized lending ecosystem. Polygon Labs, the team behind the layer-2 network, helped design the chain, while GSR, the crypto market-maker, advised on the user experience and is lending liquidity to help get the platform off the ground. 'We are providing the on-chain liquidity — or 'grease' — to make sure that people can actually use the chain on day one,' said Jakob Palmstierna, President at GSR. Currently, Katana is open to a limited group of users. It includes a pre-deposit phase that allows users to park their ETH, USDC, USDT, and WBTC for a chance to win KAT tokens, the network's new governance and utility token. Though activity is limited at this private stage, early deposits are being incentivized through a lootbox-style reward system. Katana's public mainnet is expected to arrive at the end of in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
16-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Polygon Labs' Marc Boiron on Unifying Blockchains
Marc Boiron, CEO of Polygon Labs, speaks with a practiced clarity that reflects his background as a lawyer. Over the course of our conversation, he outlines Polygon's strategy to position itself as the connective tissue in an increasingly crowded blockchain ecosystem. As competition intensifies and market conditions fluctuate, Polygon is betting on a new product called AggLayer to unify the fragmented world of blockchain – a vision that's ambitious, though not without its challenges. Boiron's path to blockchain leadership followed an unconventional route through legal corridors. A former law firm partner, he served as Chief Legal Officer at dYdX before joining Polygon Labs in a similar capacity, eventually ascending to CEO. He talked about blockchain infrastructure, as the industry confronts questions of interoperability, scalability, and practical utility. Boiron is a speaker at this year's Consensus festival in Toronto May 14-16. CoinDesk: Your background is primarily in law rather than technology. Tell me about it? Boiron: I'm the CEO at Polygon Labs. I've been the CEO for about two years now. Before that, I was the Chief Legal Officer at Polygon Labs for about a year. I joined Polygon after having been the Chief Legal Officer at dYdX for a while. I was frankly just really excited about joining a team that was looking to scale Web3 in the way that Polygon is. Before being on the Polygon legal team, I was a partner at various big law firms in the U.S., advising on crypto since 2017. CoinDesk: Polygon describes itself as building an 'Internet of Value.' That's a compelling phrase, but what does it actually mean in concrete terms? Boiron: From Polygon's perspective, we're trying to build a trustless internet that makes it easily accessible to anyone to do whatever they want whenever they want with their assets. The way that shows up is through a product that we are developing called the AggLayer. The AggLayer is intended to be a form of settlement for every chain across crypto in general. The Internet of Value contrasts with today's internet, which is primarily the Internet of Information. Web3's fundamental innovation is bringing actual value on-chain. The challenge we face is how to scale this capability across the entire digital ecosystem Right now the answer is many different blockchains that exist. But if you actually want to have something that feels like the internet of information becoming the internet of value, you need something that brings together all of those chains so that you can get a massive amount of transactions happening across all of these chains, but in a seamless way that feels just like the current internet. So the Internet of Value really gets brought to life through AggLayer. CoinDesk: Interoperability has been promised by many projects over the years. What technical approach is Polygon taking with AggLayer that you believe will succeed where others have struggled? Boiron: AggLayer is a product designed to unite all of Web3 on a single settlement layer. Currently, what's missing in the ecosystem is a secure way to move between different chains. The only effective solution for secure and rapid cross-chain movement is to use a settlement layer like AggLayer. In practice, this means the ability to finalize transactions between two different chains in less than two seconds. Our model differs from other cross-chain infrastructure in how it handles asset transfers. We monitor all assets moving in and out of chains. When someone initiates an asset transfer out of a chain, we use pessimistic proof to verify and confirm the assets' existence on that chain before allowing the transfer. Currently, this system works exclusively with Polygon CDK chains. However, we're launching an update soon that will allow any EVM chain to connect to AggLayer. This expansion brings us closer to our vision of unifying all of Web3 through AggLayer. CoinDesk: Real-World Assets on blockchain have been discussed for years with limited practical implementation. What's your perspective on RWAs, and how do they fit into Polygon's overall approach to the market? Boiron: One of Polygon's core strengths has always been our relationships with financial institutions, which is crucial for both real-world assets (RWA) and payments. When it comes to payments, Polygon POS hosts nearly 50 stablecoins. Every major fintech player that operates on other chains is also on Polygon, though many Polygon-based companies operate exclusively on our platform. For instance, Lemon Cash in Argentina operates exclusively on our platform. Other major payment companies like Stripe process most of their volume through Polygon POS, while companies like Grab in Singapore use Polygon POS alongside other chains. We've established 18 tokenized funds on Polygon POS, and our strategy focuses on making these assets truly functional. Currently, most tokenized assets across chains remain dormant after creation, offering little advantage over their traditional counterparts. Our focus is integrating these assets into DeFi, starting with enabling them as collateral in lending pools for borrowing purposes. CoinDesk: How is Polygon responding to recent market volatility and regulatory developments? Boiron: From our perspective, we just keep building regardless of what the environment is. We know what it is that we want to build, and we just keep building away at it. The market reactions obviously impact adoption. Ultimately, the economy ends up impacting the adoption for everything in the world, and it's no different for crypto. The only thing that we can do is keep building away, and as the market turns, being very well-positioned with great products that users want to use. CoinDesk: Several new blockchains have launched with claims of superior performance metrics. How does Polygon position its original POS chain in this increasingly competitive landscape? Boiron: I think Polygon POS is already very well-positioned for that. There's a reason why we see payments being adopted on POS — it is because it is actually already fast and low-cost. The thing with everything that we build, including Polygon POS, is that we're continuing to adapt it. One of the things that's exciting is that we get to see innovations across the space. People get to see how Polygon POS is innovated and adopt some of those things. We get to look at what others are doing and adopt some of their ideas as well as continuing to research and bring in new ideas ourselves. So I think what you'll end up seeing on POS is a chain that's just as fast or faster than all of the new chains that we're talking about here. The nice thing is that comes along with years of very good security and still maintaining the low costs that currently exist on-chain.
Yahoo
12-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Consumers Flock to Holistic Solutions Amid Elevated Flu Season
Newtown Square, Pennsylvania--(Newsfile Corp. - February 12, 2025) - As flu activity rises across the United States, consumers are increasingly turning to holistic remedies to support their health and wellness. According to the Kinsa Illness report, the percentage of positive influenza cases is above levels observed this time last year. Flu A has dominated the season with the highest reports being observed in the pediatric population. 1 Amid the elevated flu activity, consumers are flying to the shelves in search of flu medicines. With a growing interest in holistic remedies and non-drowsy solutions, many are turning to homeopathic medicines like Oscillococcinum®. From Boiron, world leader in homeopathic medicines, Oscillococcinum has been trusted for nearly 80 years to reduce the duration and severity of flu-like symptoms such as body aches, headache, fever, chills, and fatigue.* Its gentle approach and ease of use have made it a popular choice for those looking to support their flu recovery. "We are seeing an unprecedented demand for Oscillococcinum as consumers seek out non- drowsy alternative ways to manage their flu symptoms," says Ron Gentry, vice president of marketing at Boiron USA. "The trend towards holistic health is more than just a fad; it reflects a significant shift in how people approach their wellness, especially during flu season." The U.S. complementary and alternative medicine market was estimated at $28.1 billion in 2023 and is projected to grow significantly in the coming years.2 According to a report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Americans are spending upwards of $30 billion per year out-of-pocket on non-conventional medical services, with the largest share of this spending, $14.7 billion, for services from holistic practitioners.3 This surge in demand is particularly notable amid the elevated flu activity across the United States. "With flu season in full swing, many consumers are looking for 'closer to the earth' remedies to manage their symptoms," says Dr. Ken Redcross, board-certified internal medicine physician. "I recommend Oscillococcinum in my practice because it works with the body to ease and shorten the symptoms. I can trust that when I recommend Oscillococcinum to my patients, they will not have complications with the other medications they may be taking, and they appreciate its gentle, non-drowsy formula." Oscillococcinum continues to be a convenient and reliable first choice for relief of flu-like symptoms and is supported by clinical studies.5, 6 Oscillococcinum is non-drowsy, free of artificial colors, flavors and preservatives, and recommended for everyone ages 2 and up. Oscillococcinum is available over the counter in boxes of 6, 12, or 30, doses at suggested retail prices of $13.46, $22.03, and $32.99, respectively. It can be found at mass-market retailers, independent pharmacies, and natural product stores nationwide, as well as through online retailers. Boiron also offers its ColdCalm® line, Chestal® cough syrup line, ThroatCalm®, and SinusCalm®. For more information or store locations, visit or contact the Boiron Information Center at 1-800-BOIRON-1 (1-800-264-7661) or email Info@ Boiron Oscillococcinum® To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: ### About Boiron: Since 1932, Boiron has been sharing its passion for homeopathy with a holistic and ecological approach to medicine. Its vision of health care puts people at its center and seeks to improve the quality of their everyday lives. With a long history of unmatched quality and innovation, Boiron remains dedicated to producing the purest of medicines that respect human health and the environment. *These "Uses" have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. Sources: 1. Kinsa Health. (2025). Illness update: Week of January 26, 2025. Retrieved from Kinsa Health. 2. Grand View Research. (2023). U.S. complementary and alternative medicine market size, share & trends analysis report by intervention (traditional alternative medicine/botanicals, mind healing), by distribution (direct sales, e-sales), by region, and segment forecasts, 2024 - 2030. 3. Nahin, R. L., Barnes, P. M., Stussman, B. J., & Bloom, B. (2016). Costs of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) and frequency of visits to CAM practitioners: United States, 2012. National Health Statistics Reports, (95). Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 4. Papp R, Schuback G, Beck E, et al. Oscillococcinum(R) in patients with influenza-like syndromes: a placebo-controlled double-blind evaluation. British Homoeopathic Journal. 1998;87(2):69-76. doi:10.1038/ 5. Ferley JP, Zmirou D, D'Adhemar D, Balducci F. A controlled evaluation of a homoeopathic preparation in the treatment of influenza-like syndromes. British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology. 1989;27(3):329-335. doi:10.1111/ Contact: Bridget Naylor, Public Relations Coordinator610-325-8393, To view the source version of this press release, please visit Sign in to access your portfolio
Associated Press
07-02-2025
- Health
- Associated Press
Tackle Flu-Like Symptoms and Get Ready for the Big Game with Oscillococcinum
Newtown Square, Pennsylvania--(Newsfile Corp. - February 7, 2025) - As the flu season reaches high levels across the United States, consumers are urged to prepare for football's biggest weekend and other major winter events by stocking up on flu remedies. From the world leader in homeopathic medicine, Boiron's Oscillococcinum® is a trusted, non-drowsy medicine to tackle flu-like symptoms, so you never miss a beat during the gameday showdown or other winter events. With flu cases continuing to rise and people gathering for the final matchup of the season, it is more important than ever to have reliable flu medicines available. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that the 2024-2025 flu season has already affected an estimated 20 million Americans. 1 With the Big Game and seasonal festivities bringing people together, the risk of flu transmission rises. As fans gather—whether at home with family and friends or at packed viewing parties—these celebrations create prime conditions for spreading illness. To stay healthy and enjoy the game without interruption, it's essential to have reliable flu medicine on hand at the first sign of symptoms. Boiron's Oscillococcinum is a trusted homeopathic medicine for nearly 80 years that has been shown in clinical studies 2, 3 to reduce the duration and severity of flu-like symptoms such as body aches, headache, fever, chills, and fatigue.* 'With peak flu season in full swing, it's essential to stay prepared, especially with major gatherings like the Big Game and seasonal celebrations, where you're in close contact with family and friends,' said Dr. Ken Redcross, a board-certified internal medicine physician. 'I recommend keeping Oscillococcinum on hand to help manage flu-like symptoms at the first sign of illness. Its non-drowsy formula allows my patients to feel their best and continue enjoying big moments, like the championship game, without disruption.' Oscillococcinum is free of artificial colors, flavors and preservatives, and recommended for everyone ages 2 and up. Oscillococcinum is available over the counter in boxes of 6, 12, or 30, doses at suggested retail prices from $13.46 to $32.99. It can be found at mass-market retailers, independent pharmacies, and natural product stores nationwide, as well as online. Boiron's homeopathic cold and flu line also includes ColdCalm ® line, Chestal ® cough syrup line, ThroatCalm ®, and SinusCalm ®. For more information or store locations, visit or contact the Boiron Information Center at 1-800-BOIRON-1 (1-800-264-7661) or email [email protected]. ### About Boiron: Since 1932, Boiron has been sharing its passion for homeopathy with a holistic and ecological approach to medicine. Its vision of health care puts people at its center and seeks to improve the quality of their everyday lives. With a long history of unmatched quality and innovation, Boiron remains dedicated to producing the purest of medicines that respect human health and the environment. *These 'Uses' have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. Sources: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2025, January 27). Preliminary estimated flu disease burden 2024-2025 flu season. Papp R, Schuback G, Beck E, et al. Oscillococcinum(R) in patients with influenza-like syndromes: a placebo-controlled double-blind evaluation. British Homoeopathic Journal. 1998;87(2):69-76. doi:10.1038/ Ferley JP, Zmirou D, D'Adhemar D, Balducci F. A controlled evaluation of a homoeopathic preparation in the treatment of influenza-like syndromes. British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology. 1989;27(3):329-335. doi:10.1111/ Contact:
