Key Takeaways:
Bitcoin layer-2 protocol Bitlayer has extended its recent Series A funding round to attract additional capital from previous investors. According to an announcement made by the Singapore-based startup on October 8, it has secured $9 million in funding from SCB Limited, RW3 Ventures, Selini Capital, and G-20 Group.
Bitlayer Raises $9 Million In Additional Funding to Accelerate Development of Its Bitcoin Layer-2 Protocol
The Series A funding round was led by Polychain Capital and Franklin Templeton. Bitlayer intends to use the funds raised to accelerate the development and deployment of its protocol, enhancing its scalability, efficiency, and accessibility.
Bitlayer provides users and developers with a native Bitcoin Layer 2 environment that guarantees Bitcoin-level security, a trustless cross-chain bridge, and an Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) programming platform. The company is behind the OpVM, which is a new technology that combines two types of proofs – fraud proofs and validity proofs – to strengthen Bitcoin’s rigidity and ensure that its Layer-1 can handle complex computations with ease. This further enhances the security and functionality of various protocols within the Bitcoin ecosystem.
The core idea here is to make the Bitcoin network faster, more secure, and future-proof.
Bitlayer CEO Kevin He said that the company’s innovative approach to blockchain technology empowers the Bitcoin network to “seamlessly integrate” into any programmable blockchain ecosystem in a “trustless manner”. He believes this will catalyze rapid development and widespread adoption of a decentralized application (DApp) ecosystem based on Bitcoin’s substantial liquidity.
Bitlayer launched its mainnet in April 2024, and since then over 280 DApps have been deployed on the network. These apps include infrastructure and developer tools, wallets, DeFi, NFTs, gaming, metaverse, real-world assets (RWAs), and more.
Bitlayer Collected $900 Million In Fees In September and Has a TVL of Over $350 Million
According to data sourced by DeFiLlama, Bitlayer amassed nearly $900 million in fees last month alone. The total value locked (TVL) on the network currently stands at $380.7 million. The additional capital raised during the extended Series A funding round will support the upcoming launch of Bitlayer v2.
Moreover, the company has established itself as a core ecosystem partner for over 30 Web3 platforms, which include prominent industry players such as Hacken, AWS Cloud, Ankr, Polyhedra, Babylon, Particle Network, and Meson.
The extended funding round was also backed by venture capital firms such as Framework Ventures, ABCDE, StarkWare, OKX Ventures, Alliance DAO, and UTXO Management. Bitlayer raised $5 million in a seed round held in March, followed by an $11 million Series A round in July, bringing the total amount raised by the startup to $25 million.
Bitlayer and Franklin Templeton are Working on a Bitcoin-backed Yield Product for Clients
During an interview with the crypto news outlet Cointelegraph, Bitlayer co-founder Charlie Hu noted that asset manager and venture capitalist Franklin Templeton was looking at alternatives to unlock yield for its clients through digital assets, specifically Bitcoin.
While speaking at the Bitcoin 2024 conference held in Nashville, Hu highlighted that the Wall Street behemoth is “sitting on $500 million Bitcoin exposure”. He also noted that his startup and the investment manager are currently in discussions for a potential joint venture.
Bitlayer is working with Franklin Templeton Digital Assets, the VC’s crypto arm, on developing technologies such as Bitcoin staking. A number of the Singapore-based Bitcoin company’s ecosystem partners, such as Lorenzo, Satlayer, Lombard, and Apro Protocol, recently received backing from Franklin Templeton Digital Assets, further strengthening their partnership.
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