According to a press release sent to Cointelegraph, the Layer 2 blockchain network based on Bitcoin (BOB) has raised $21 million in strategic funding round since December 2024, with the latest round of margin of $9.5 million.
Many existing investors have added their financial commitments to the latest $9.5 million strategic round, including Castle Island, as well as new strategic investors Anchorage, Amber Group and SATS Ventures.
Castle Island founding partner Nic Carter told Cointelegraph why they decided to double down on their investment:
“We also continue to believe that Bitcoin will be the bedrock of Defi, and we think Bob will be a gate L2.”
Bob’s CTO Dominik Harz told Cointelegraph that the company’s next major milestone is rolling out production for the BITVM bridge. The bridge will enable local bitcoin (BTC) Will be used for Defi on BOB and facilitate BTC transfer to other chains.
Bob plans to launch the finality of BTC pasting by the end of 2025, with future upgrades enabling BTC secure bridges to reach Solana, Ethereum, SUI and other smart contract chains.
“There are users, institutions, applications and wallets everywhere, and native BTC Defi can be accessed through Bob,” Harz said.
Bob’s Testnet has recently been launched with support from partners including Lombard, Amber Digital and Rockawayx. The main network is planned to be released in the fourth quarter of 2025.
Bridge Bitcoin and Ethereum
Bob uses a hybrid chain model that combines the security and stability of Bitcoin with the versatility of the Ethereum Defi ecosystem.
Bob became a hybrid because it was also a member of Superma, utilizing the OP stack as Ethereum rolling, and is also a Bitcoin-secured network that integrates Bitcoin with Babylon and finally, with billions of dollars in fixed BTC.
As of Thursday, Bob’s total value was locked at $212 million, while DeFi TVL was $132.2 million and 553,000 users.
Related: Adding ZK-Programs Profforms based on Bitcoin upgrade to decentralization
Local Bitcoin Defi is about to
Previously, Bitcoin relied heavily on centralized institutions or wrapped Bitcoin tokens (such as WBTC) (WBTC), tbtc(TBTC) and Huobi BTC (HBTC). These so-called “bitcoin” tokens are representations of Real BTC, where users store their real BTC in centralized or multi-symbol custodians in exchange for a token version that can be used with Chain.
Although all BTC bridges historically rely on multi-statement custody, Bob’s BITVM2 allows users to interact with DEFI applications directly using their native BTC without custody or packaging.
BITVM2 is the latest BITVM design co-authored by Bob co-founder Alexei Zamyatin. It allows for practical fraud proof of Bitcoin, which allows users to execute a bridge of least trust between Bitcoin L1 and Bob.
By leveraging this technology, Bob’s goal is to bring Bitcoin closer to Ethereum-style decentralized financing, allowing Bitcoin users to engage in DEFI without losing control of their assets. The network is designed to keep Bitcoin secure while interacting with the Ethereum-based DEFI protocol.
Magazine: Bilal bin Saqib says
