Polychain, Franklin Templeton back Bitlayer’s $9M Series A extension
Summary
Bitcoin layer-2 platform Bitlayer has extended its recent Series A round of funding, attracting additional capital from previous investors Franklin Templeton and Polychain Capital.According to an Oct. 8 announcement, the startup secured an additional $9 million in funding. SCB Limited, Selini Capital, and G-20 Group were also participants in the round.Bitlayer is behind the OpVM solution, a new technology that combines two types of proofs fraud proofs (BitVM) and validity proofs (using OP_CAT) to create a verification solution for Bitcoins base layer. It enables the network to verify a broad range of computations, supporting the security and functionality of protocols running on the Bitcoin network.Bitlayers mainnet went live in April 2024 and has amassed nearly $900 million in fees in September alone, according to data from DefiLlama. The startup total funding to date stands at $25 million.In a previous interview with Cointelegraph, Bitlayers co-founder Charlie Hu noted that Franklin Templeton was exploring alternatives to unlock yield for its clients through digital assets, specifically through the Bitcoin network.Theyre sitting on $500 million Bitcoin exposure, and they want to earn more yield for their clients, noted the co-founder during an exclusive interview at the Bitcoin 2024 conference.According to Hu, the startup and the investment manager are currently in the exploration stage of a potential joint project.Weve been actively exploring this cooperation with Franklin Templeton on the Bitcoin staking and ecosystem development side, said Hu, adding that:A number of Bitlayer ecosystem partners, including Lorenzo, Satlayer, Lombard, and Apro Protocol, have also recently received investments from Franklin Templeton, highlighting this increased level of cooperation. Magazine: Advanced AI system is already self-aware ASI Alliance founder