Bitcoin layer-2 platform Bitlayer has extended its recent Series A round of funding, attracting additional capital from previous investors Franklin Templeton Digital Assets and Polychain Capital.

According to an Oct. 8 announcement, the startup secured an additional $9 million in funding. SCB Limited, RW3 Ventures, 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 Bitcoin’s 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.

Bitlayer’s mainnet went live in April 2024 and has amassed nearly $900 million in fees in September alone, according to data from DefiLlama. At the time of writing, it has a total value locked of $380.7 million. The additional capital will support the upcoming launch of Bitlayer v2.

Polychain, Franklin Templeton back Bitlayer’s $9M Series A extension image 0

Bitlayer’s total value locked. Source: DefiLlama

Also backing the startup are venture firms such as Framework Ventures, ABCDE, StarkWare, OKX Ventures, Alliance DAO, and UTXO Management. In March, Bitlayer raised a $5 million seed round, followed by an $11 million Series A round in July. The startup total funding to date stands at $25 million.

Franklyn Templeton eyes Bitcoin yield

In a previous interview with Cointelegraph, Bitlayer’s 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.

“They’re 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.

“We’ve been actively exploring this cooperation with Franklin Templeton Digital Assets 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 Digital Assets, highlighting this increased level of cooperation.” Magazine:  Advanced AI system is already ‘self-aware’ — ASI Alliance founder