# Introduction {% hint style="danger" %} This version of Horizon Academy has been deprecated! To find the latest version, please visit: [English V2](https://academy.horizonprotocol.com/) {% endhint %} Welcome to Horizon Protocol, a decentralized finance project on the BNB Chain (previously known as the Binance Smart Chain) with the mission of creating a borderless financial market for synthetic assets. {% embed url="" %} An Introduction to Horizon Protocol {% endembed %} ## Project Overview Horizon Protocol is a DeFi platform that facilitates the on-chain trading of synthetic assets that represent the real economy. Horizon Protocol seeks to provide exposure to real-world assets risk/return profiles via smart contracts on the blockchain. Forked from Synthetix, Horizon Protocol will leverage the time-tested derivative liquidity protocol and bring interoperability, scalability and a whole new array of tradable, real-world derivative products to the DeFi ecosystem. Our commitment to the Binance ecosystem and native implementation on BNB Chain offer users the speed and dependability that is currently lacking on the Ethereum blockchain. Learn more about Horizon Protocol by going to the [Horizon Protocol website](https://horizonprotocol.com/).
## Why Horizon Protocol? * Built on the BSC for faster, cheaper, scalable transactions * More focus on bringing a wider range of synthetic assets that represent the real and crypto worlds * Building more innovative synthetic assets such as zIndices, zNFTs, leveraged assets and others * Bringing DeFi to NFTs via Synthetic NFTs * Cross-chain interoperability: BSC, ETH, Solana, Polygon, Tron, Cosmos, Reef, and more. * Focused on user experience and education * Community driven ## The Horizon Protocol Ecosystem Horizon Protocol is a decentralized finance project on the Binance Smart Chain with the mission of creating a borderless financial market for synthetic assets. The Horizon Protocol Ecosystem consists of two main parts: * [Horizon Genesis](/english/horizon-genesis/introduction.md), for creating synthetic assets, and * [Horizon Exchange](/english/horizon-exchange/introduction.md), for trading synthetic assets.
## Security Audit Security and safety of the protocol is of the utmost importance. A security audit was performed on February 26, 2021. For the report, you can click here for [English](https://static.horizonprotocol.com/Horizon-Protocol-Smart-Contract-Audit-Report.pdf) or the [Chinese](https://static.horizonprotocol.com/Horizon%20Protocol%20%E6%99%BA%E8%83%BD%E5%90%88%E7%BA%A6%E5%AE%A1%E8%AE%A1%E6%8A%A5%E5%91%8A.pdf) version. Original Medium post available [here](https://horizonprotocol.medium.com/horizon-security-audit-f4cc820de090). ## Getting Started To get started with Horizon Protocol, you can do two things: “Earn” and “Trade”. **Earn**, by staking and providing collateral to the protocol on Horizon Genesis, a dApp for staking, which will earn you a dividend. Or **Trade**, where you engage in synthetic assets trading on the Horizon Exchange, including long and short positions. --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://academy.horizonprotocol.com/english/horizon-protocol/introduction.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.