July 25, 2024
By Sharan Kaur Phillora
Bitcoin layer-2 blockchain Bitlayer Labs has successfully raised $11 million in a Series A funding round, valuing the company at $300 million. The investment was led by Franklin Templeton, a major asset manager and issuer of a spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the United States, along with ABCDE.
Here’s what we know:
Bitlayer’s layer-2 solution is based on the BitVM paradigm, which was introduced in October 2023. This technology aims to bring Ethereum-style smart contracts to the Bitcoin blockchain, potentially expanding Bitcoin’s utility without compromising its security. The BitVM approach has reinvigorated efforts to achieve Turing completeness on the Bitcoin network, which would allow for more complex computations and program executions.
The involvement of Franklin Templeton, a trillion-dollar asset manager, in this funding round signals growing interest from traditional finance (TradFi) in decentralized finance (DeFi) innovations. Kevin Farrelly, managing principal at Franklin Templeton Digital Assets, expressed confidence in Bitlayer’s potential to unlock new use cases for Bitcoin.
Other notable participants in the funding round included Framework Ventures, Stake Capital Group, WAGMI Ventures, Skyland Ventures, Flow Traders, GSR Ventures, and FalconX, among others. The creator of BRC20, DOMO, also participated as an angel investor.
This investment brings Bitlayer’s total funding to $16 million. The company plans to use the funds for ecosystem expansion, including supporting the development of native Web3 protocols within its ecosystem. Bitlayer is currently working on Mainnet-V2, a Bitcoin-native rollup that aims to combine ZK (zero-knowledge) proofs with Bitcoin’s security model.
Bitlayer’s success in attracting investment from an ETF-licensed institution like Franklin Templeton marks a significant milestone for Bitcoin Layer-2 infrastructure projects. This partnership underscores the growing recognition and support for blockchain technologies from institutional investors.
As Bitlayer continues to develop its technology and expand its ecosystem, it aims to address the trade-off between security and Turing completeness in Bitcoin Layer-2 solutions, potentially paving the way for increased scalability and utility in the Bitcoin network.
About the author
Sharan Kaur Phillora’s thirst for knowledge has led her to study many different subjects, including NFTs and Blockchain technology – two emerging technologies that will change how we interact with each other in the future. When she isn’t exploring a new idea or concept, she enjoys reading literary masterpieces.
