# Helios & MIDL Architecture Overview Helios Finance is a Bitcoin-native lending protocol built as a smart contract layer on top of the MIDL network. This design cleanly separates **Helios’s role** – providing lending logic and financial mechanics – from the underlying **infrastructure responsibilities** handled by MIDL. In practice, Helios does **not** run its own blockchain or manage validators. Instead, it leverages MIDL’s Delegated Proof-of-Stake (DPoS) network of validators and its Threshold Signature Scheme (TSS) custody system for security and consensus. This means tasks like transaction validation, consensus, and fund custody are abstracted to the MIDL network, while Helios focuses on the lending protocol logic. The result is a secure, decentralized architecture where Helios can offer Bitcoin-native loans without directly operating any validators or custodians. --- # 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://helios-finance.gitbook.io/helios-finance/architecture/quickstart/helios-and-midl-architecture-overview.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.