BOB Secures $9.5M for Bitcoin DeFi Expansion

The Bitcoin DeFi initiative BOB (Build on Bitcoin) has successfully secured an additional $9.5 million in a strategic funding round, raising its total funding to $21.1 million. Key investors include Castle Island Ventures, which spearheaded the initial $10 million seed round, alongside Ledger Cathay Fund, RockawayX, and several others. New investments also came from Anchorage, Amber Group, and Sats Ventures, although no valuation details were shared. Nic Carter, Founding Partner at Castle Island Ventures, expressed confidence in the potential of Bitcoin DeFi, stating that BOB represents a significant step forward for secure Bitcoin transactions. He highlighted BOB as the sole Layer 2 solution that integrates both BitVM for trustless deposits and Bitcoin-backed finality for DeFi transactions. BOB aims to leverage the new funds to fast-track its development and explore innovative Bitcoin DeFi applications. Co-Founder Alexei Zamyatin emphasized the importance of their growing partnerships, noting how they reinforce BOB's role in defining the future of DeFi. BOB’s Hybrid Chain is designed to merge the strengths of Bitcoin and Ethereum, offering secured applications and transactions with 'staked BTC.' While BOB is not yet a fully trust-minimized Layer 2 solution in the Ethereum sense, it operates more like a hybrid EVM chain connected to Bitcoin through multisig bridging. Recently, BOB introduced native BTC support on its testnet, with partnerships established to ensure that real Bitcoin will be integrated once live on the mainnet. Disclaimer: The Block is an independent news source. As of November 2023, it is majority-owned by Foresight Ventures, which also invests in crypto-related ventures.