BitLayer, the first Layer 2 public chain based on Bitcoin final settlement, completed the extended Series A Round on October 8. This expanded Series A round was led by Polycapital. The biggest highlight was the traditional financial giant Franklin Templeton co-led the investment.

Source: CryptoRank BitLayer extends Series A funding round

BitLayer Fundraising Status of Each Round

According to the official press release, a total of US$9 million was raised in the extended Series A. In addition to the two institutions mentioned above, other investors include VCs such as SCB Limited, Selini Capital and G-20 Group. BitLayer raised US$5 million in a seed round in March and US$11 million in a Series A round in July this year, and is now valued at US$300 million.

What kind of public chain is BitLayer?

The development team claims that BitLayer is the first Layer 2 network to use Bitcoin as the settlement and consensus layer. According to DefiLlama, including BitLayer, there are at least 17 such “Bitcoin-based public chains.” Previously, BitLayer was the leading project in this sector. However, the total locked-up value of its competitor CORE has continued to increase in the past two months, and has now surpassed BitLayer to become the Bitcoin-compatible chain with the highest share of 28.15% ($392 million). BitLayer's share is 26.59% ($370 million).

Bitcoin - Sidechains dominanceImage source: DefiLlama Bitcoin compatible chain Dominance

What impact will BitLayer have on DeFi?

These Bitcoin-compatible public chains each use different technologies to rely on Bitcoin for final settlement, but they all share a common proposition - "Introducing Bitcoin's huge liquidity into DeFi", thus forming a unique BTCFi. The most common applications are restaking and lending protocols that utilize the security of Bitcoin; among them, the lending protocol Avalon Finance ($384 million) and the re-pledge protocol Pell Network ($284 million) have been widely deployed in Multiple Bitcoin public chains including BitLayer and CORE. Although this type of BTCFi is still in the development stage, it is foreseeable that the release of Bitcoin liquidity will continue to support the deserted DeFi sector in the short term.

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