Bitcoin Layer 2 ‘Bitlayer’ Hits $300M Valuation In Fresh Funding Round

A Bitcoin Layer 2 network developer, Bitlayer Labs, has raised $11 million in a Series A funding round. Notable investors include Franklin Templeton Digital Assets as well as ABCDE, a crypto venture capital firm co-founded by Huobi co-founder Du Jun, Framework Ventures, GSR Ventures, Flow Traders, and others.

Expanding Funding and Strategic Valuation

According to a report, with the $11 million raised, Bitlayer Labs’ cumulative funding now stands at $16 million as it was able to rake in $5 million in March as part of seed funding.

The investors are in for a $300 million valuation which has been structured to include both equity and diluted token valuation. According to Charlie Hu, co-founder of Bitlayer Labs, the $300 million round is a simple agreement for future equity (SAFE) plus token warrants.

Notably, the $300 million valuation is geared toward scaling of its ecosystem. According to Hu, Bitlayer’s ecosystem growth in 2024 is leading the way in the Bitcoin Layer 2 space. This is largely due to the team’s emphasis on fast, seamless communication and deployment of projects. There are also huge incentives for their integration.

Ecosystem Growth and Technological Advancements

Now, Bitlayer plans to unveil the testnet of its mainnet V2 either towards August ending or early September. When launched, it will become the world’s premier Bitcoin verification capability solution and facilitate synergy such that transactions in Layer 2 are verifiable in Bitcoin Layer 1 through the BitVM approach.

According to Hu, the development will enable Bitcoin Layer 2 to achieve finality with their different trust and security assumptions. When this is attained, Bitlayer will launch the term feature called FinalityVM as the process is being worked out.

The Bitlayer Strategic Investment with Franklin Templeton

On the financial support from Franklin Templeton, Hu maintained it was notable as it marks the maiden infrastructure Bitcoin investment for the finance firm. Commenting on the development, Kevin Farrelly, managing principal of Franklin Templeton Digital Assets, expressed high hopes on its impact.

“We believe that Bitlayer’s unique approach and technology has the potential to unlock new use cases and opportunities for Bitcoin, and we look forward to exploring collaboration opportunities with our Bitcoin-focused financial products.”