Baiya International Group Inc. Positions for Global DeFi Ecosystem Expansion as Starfish’s UpTop.Meme Launches on Binance Alpha

Rhea-AI Summary

Baiya International Group (Nasdaq: BIYA), a HR technology company, announced that UpTop.Meme platform has launched on Binance Alpha. This follows BIYA's July 2025 strategic merger agreement to acquire Starfish Technology-FZE and its assets.

The launch includes an airdrop campaign and global trading competition to boost platform liquidity. UpTop, built on BNB Chain, aims to provide DeFi infrastructure for crypto assets and tokenized traditional financial assets like U.S. stocks and treasuries.

This launch marks BIYA's strategic transformation from an HR tech company into a Web3 and DeFi-focused enterprise, emphasizing multi-chain integration, DAO governance, and cross-border tokenized asset liquidity.

Positive

• Strategic expansion into DeFi and Web3 through Binance Alpha platform launch
• Access to Binance's large crypto-native user base and ecosystem
• Acquisition of Starfish's complete technical IP and operational team
• Diversification from HR tech into digital assets and DeFi protocols

Negative

• Significant business model pivot from HR technology to DeFi carries execution risks
• Integration challenges merging traditional HR tech with crypto operations
• Regulatory uncertainties in global DeFi and tokenized assets space

Insights

Blockchain & DeFi Strategist

BIYA pivots from HR tech to DeFi through Starfish acquisition and UpTop.Meme launch on Binance, signaling major strategic transformation.

This announcement represents a fundamental strategic pivot for BIYA, transforming from an HR technology company into a Web3/DeFi-focused enterprise. The listing of UpTop.Meme on Binance Alpha is significant as Binance remains one of the world's largest cryptocurrency exchanges by trading volume, providing immediate access to a vast liquidity pool and sophisticated crypto-native user base.

The acquisition of Starfish and its UpTop platform positions BIYA at the intersection of traditional finance and DeFi through a tokenization strategy that targets both crypto assets and tokenized traditional assets like U.S. stocks and treasuries. This places BIYA in direct competition with established DeFi protocols while potentially offering unique differentiation through its focus on tokenized traditional financial instruments.

Built on BNB Chain (Binance's blockchain), UpTop benefits from lower transaction fees and higher throughput compared to Ethereum-based competitors, potentially enabling more cost-effective trading of tokenized assets. The planned multi-chain integration strategy is crucial for capturing liquidity across fragmented blockchain ecosystems.

However, this transformation comes with substantial execution risks. BIYA must transition from HR technology expertise to blockchain/DeFi competencies—fundamentally different domains requiring specialized technical knowledge and regulatory understanding. The success of this pivot hinges on effectively integrating Starfish's team and technology while navigating the complex regulatory landscape surrounding tokenized securities.

Shenzhen, China, July 24, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Baiya International Group Inc. (“BIYA” or the “Company”) (Nasdaq: BIYA), a human resource (“HR”) technology company utilizing its cloud-based internet platform to provide one-stop crowdsourcing recruitment and SaaS-enabled HR solutions, today announced that STARFISH TECHNOLOGY-FZE (“Starfish”)’s UpTop.Meme (“UpTop”) platform has officially launched on Binance Alpha (“Binance”), a premier global cryptocurrency asset platform. In July 2025, BIYA signed a strategic merger framework agreement to acquire all equity interests and core assets of Starfish. This milestone marks a major acceleration in UpTop’s global decentralized finance (“DeFi”) ecosystem development and highlights BIYA’s strategic commitment to Web3 and decentralized finance.

By joining Binance Alpha, UpTop enters the spotlight among elite crypto-native users and becomes one of the key community-supported projects within the Binance ecosystem. Alongside the listing, UpTop is rolling out an airdrop campaign and a global trading competition. The competition, designed to incentivize users to contribute to platform liquidity and drive multi-chain collaboration in DeFi infrastructure, is open to all supported platforms, according to rules announced by Binance.

UpTop is a DeFi protocol built on BNB Chain, aiming to provide on-chain liquidity infrastructure for both native crypto assets and tokenized forms of traditional financial assets such as U.S. stocks and treasuries. By supporting token trading of equities, treasuries, and more, UpTop leverages DeFi innovation to bridge traditional and future finance, creating an open, verifiable, and permissionless global liquidity foundation.

In July 2025, BIYA signed a comprehensive merger framework agreement with Dubai-headquartered technology company Starfish, which owns the flagship platform UpTop. The proposed transaction includes the integration of all core assets, technical IP, and the operational team, signifying BIYA’s transformation into a next-generation capital market participant focused on Web3, digital assets, and DeFi protocols.

Ms. Siyu Yang, Chief Executive Officer of BIYA, commented, “UpTop’s launch on Binance represents a strategic milestone in BIYA’s full-scale transition into the DeFi and digital capital markets. Through this partnership, we aim to rapidly build global community consensus and lay a solid foundation for the next phase of UpTop’s ecosystem and user growth. Looking ahead, BIYA will continue to center its strategy around UpTop, advancing multi-chain integration, decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) governance, and cross-border liquidity for tokenized assets — with the goal of building a leading global DeFi platform and tokenization hub.”

About Baiya International Group Inc. ("Baiya")

Baiya has evolved from a job matching service provider into a cloud-based internet platform to provide one-stop crowdsourcing recruitment and SaaS-enabled HR solutions on the Gongwuyuan Platform to supplement its offline job matching services and started to position itself as a SaaS-enabled HR technology company by introducing its Gongwuyuan Platform in the flexible employment marketplace. Baiya has been and will continue to strategically develop and improve the Gongwuyuan Platform with product features that work together with its traditional offline service model to improve the job matching and HR related services in the flexible employment marketplace.

CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Certain statements in this press release are "forward-looking statements" as defined under the federal securities laws, including, but not limited to, statements concerning plans, objectives, goals, strategies, future events or performance, and underlying assumptions and other statements that are other than statements of historical facts. These forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties and are based on the Company's current expectations and projections about future events that the Company believes may affect its financial condition, results of operations, business strategy and financial needs. Forward-looking statements can be identified by terms such as "believe", "plan", "expect", "intend", "should", "seek", "estimate", "will", "aim" and "anticipate", or other similar expressions in this press release. The Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise publicly any forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent occurring events or circumstances, or changes in its expectations, except as may be required by law. Although the Company believes that the expectations expressed in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, it cannot assure you that such expectations will turn out to be correct, and the Company cautions investors that actual results may differ materially from the anticipated results and encourages investors to review other factors that may affect its future results in the Company's registration statement and other filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC").

For further information, please contact:

Baiya International Group Inc.
Investor Relations Department
Phone: +86 0769-88785888
Email: info@biyainc.com

Investor Relations Inquiries:

Ascent Investor Relations LLC
Tina Xiao
Phone: +1-646-932-7242
Email: investors@ascent-ir.com

FAQ

What is the significance of BIYA's UpTop.Meme launch on Binance Alpha?

The launch represents BIYA's strategic entry into the DeFi ecosystem, providing access to Binance's crypto-native users and marking the company's transformation from HR tech to Web3 and DeFi operations.

What are the key features of BIYA's UpTop platform?

UpTop is a DeFi protocol built on BNB Chain that provides liquidity infrastructure for both crypto assets and tokenized traditional financial assets like U.S. stocks and treasuries.

When did BIYA acquire Starfish Technology-FZE?

In July 2025, BIYA signed a strategic merger framework agreement to acquire all equity interests and core assets of Starfish Technology-FZE.

What incentives is BIYA offering for the UpTop platform launch?

BIYA is launching an airdrop campaign and a global trading competition to incentivize users to contribute to platform liquidity and drive multi-chain collaboration.

How does this launch affect BIYA's business strategy?

This launch represents BIYA's transformation from an HR technology company into a next-generation capital market participant focused on Web3, digital assets, and DeFi protocols.