# Overview

Launched in 2020, Venus Protocol (a.k.a. “Venus”) pushed the edges of decentralized finance through its composition of two pre-existing solutions and deployment on BNB chain, lowering the barrier to entry for millions of new users around the globe. By combining the stablecoin minting facility introduced by Maker and algorithmic money markets developed by Compound, Venus simplified the user experience and provided core capabilities that enabled decentralized finance to flourish in a single application. As a result, Venus found remarkable success and quickly rose to be one of the most widely used decentralized applications in web3.

The latest iteration of Venus Protocol, the most trusted and battle-tested lending and borrowing protocol on the BNB Chain, builds on prior successes and lessons learned to improve in 3 key areas:

1. Risk management
2. Decentralization
3. User experience

In doing so, Venus continues to push the boundaries of what's possible within the realm of decentralized finance.

<figure><img src="https://1811016925-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FSfxZmzf9N5T5Npv859XY%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-6a46103a491f9ecae3a846915415633bb7e49932%2Foverview.svg?alt=media&#x26;token=cd1368b3-fbd1-441d-b570-9e32f3c3336c" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>


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# 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://docs-v4.venus.io/getting-started/readme.md?ask=<question>
```

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.