Bitcoin Layer 2 Bitlayer raises $9 million Series A extension at $300 million valuation

Bitlayer Labs, the developer of a Bitcoin BTC -2.12% Layer 2 network, has raised $9 million in a Series A extension funding round, just three months after its $11 million Series A.

The new round was led by Polychain Capital and co-led by Franklin Templeton, with additional backing from SCB Limited, Selini Capital, G-20.Group and other investors, Bitlayer Labs said Tuesday. The round began in early August and closed last week, Bitlayer co-founder Charlie Hu told The Block.

Like its previous Series A round , Bitlayer's extension round was structured as a simple agreement for future equity (SAFE) with token warrants at the same $300 million valuation, which accounts for both equity and fully diluted token valuation, Hu said.

The latest round brings Bitlayer's total funding to $25 million, following its $11 million Series A in July and $5 million seed round in March. The new capital comes as Bitlayer prepares to launch V2 of its Bitcoin scaling network.

What is Bitlayer?

Bitlayer claims to be the first Bitcoin Layer 2 network based on Bitcoin finality, meaning transactions or data processed on Bitlayer are settled on Bitcoin's blockchain.

"Bitlayer innovatively proposed and implemented OpVM, a future-proof Bitcoin Layer 1 verification solution that combines fraud proofs (BitVM) and validity proofs (based on OP_CAT)," the project said. "This solution significantly enhances the security level of various protocols within the Bitcoin ecosystem, enabling the Bitcoin Layer 1 to verify arbitrary computations."

Bitlayer launched its V1 mainnet in April, and since then, nearly 300 projects have been built on its Layer 2 network, Hu said. Macaron and Avalon Finance remain leading decentralized exchanges on Bitlayer, while Desyn is a prominent yield-earning DeFi protocol and Jasper Vault offers options trading with up to 200x leverage, Hu added.

"We continue to bring on strong new projects deploying to Bitlayer every day. Look out for staking/restaking, RWAs, yield opportunities, infra/tooling like data availability and bridging. It's all coming to Bitcoin," Hu noted.

Bitlayer is currently ranked as the number one Bitcoin scaling project in terms of total value locked, exceeding $500 million, according to DeFiLlama data.

Bitlayer V2 mainnet launch

Bitlayer is now preparing to launch its V2 mainnet, which will utilize its OpVM technique, a verification gadget that combines both validity proofs and fraud proofs.

"As we built out the first major implementation of BitVM, we realized a hybrid model was needed to achieve our goal of verifying state on the Bitcoin L1," Hu said. "So we're building out OpVM to include not only BitVM, but OP_CAT, validity proofs, and fraud proofs in order to make Bitlayer more future proof."

Bitlayer plans to launch the live mainnet V2 in the fourth quarter, Hu said. When asked if Bitlayer's BTR token will also launch alongside the mainnet, Hu said, "We're not sure," but "stay tuned."

There are around 70 people working for Bitlayer, and Hu plans to hire a few more to help lead the network's institutional adoption efforts, particularly engaging with Bitcoin exchange-traded fund issuers such as Franklin Templeton and Fidelity.

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