BOB, a hybrid Layer-2 powered by Bitcoin and Ethereum, announces its $1.6M combined strategic raise led by Ledger Ventures and angel round with funds deployed to broaden the Layer-2’s presence throughout the Bitcoin and Ethereum ecosystems.
The list of angel investors reportedly includes leaders “from BlackRock, Rarible, Ordinals, Aave, Curve, Threshold, Magic Eden, Mechanism, Injective, Vessel Capital, Babylon, and Centrifuge, among others.”
Their confidence in BOB is said to highlight “the Layer-2’s strength in leveraging the best attributes from both Bitcoin and Ethereum ecosystems to enable Bitcoin dapp innovation.”
$1M of the funds raised will be “allocated for a BOB incubator focused on bootstrapping new and innovative startups in the BTC infrastructure and BOB dapp space.”
The aim of the incubator is to “bridge the gap between Bitcoin’s global adoption and Ethereum’s innovation powerhouse.”
Alexei Zamyatin, Co-Founder of BOB, shared:
“We’re very pleased with the backing of Ledger Ventures and our angel investors representing a wide swath of the Bitcoin and Ethereum industries. We are highly focused on supporting dapps with our infrastructure. Our recent release of BOB Gateway, an “intent-based” Bitcoin cross-chain DeFi portal, is one example of the exciting developments the crypto community can expect from us in the near future.”
Marguerite de Tavernost, an investor at the Ledger Cathay Fund, Ledger’s early-stage venture fund, shared:
“Ledger Cathay Fund is very excited to support BOB, which has the power to unleash Bitcoin’s programmability while maintaining its robust security. By combining the best of Bitcoin with the innovation capabilities of Ethereum, Bitcoin Layer-2s like BOB unlock unprecedented Bitcoin scalability. We are extremely proud to be supporting Alexei and his team. They have demonstrated impressive execution capabilities by securing very large TVL volumes early on as well as various integrations for facilitating DeFi applications for Bitcoin. We believe they have the right resources to execute on their long-term vision.”
MacLane Wilkison from Threshold:
“By combining the security of Bitcoin with the application base of the EVM, BOB has quickly become one of the largest Bitcoin L2s by TVL on the back of a thriving DeFi ecosystem. I’m excited to see their momentum continue as users and developers increasingly choose to build on Bitcoin.”
Nic Carter, General Partner at Castle Island Ventures, who led BOB’s $10M seed round earlier this year, shared:
“As BOB backers, Castle Island Ventures is excited to see the ecosystem fund launch. This initiative will provide vital capital to founders building on the BOB architecture. We are committed to the BOB ecosystem and are excited to see it grow further, remaining a source of downstream capital for startups building on BOB.”
BOB (“Build on Bitcoin”) is “a hybrid Layer-2 powered by Bitcoin and Ethereum.”
By combining the security, liquidity, userbase, and innovation “of the two largest blockchain ecosystems, BOB closes the gap between Bitcoin as a vehicle for mass adoption and Ethereum as a hub for innovation.”
This is achieved through BOB’s rollup ecosystem “that will use Bitcoin for security while enabling users to access all the on and off-ramps, dapps, stablecoins, NFTs, DeFi, etc. made possible by Ethereum’s EVM. BOB is backed by Castle Island Ventures, Coinbase Ventures, Mechanism Capital, Bankless Ventures, and other high-profile VCs and is positioned to become the most secure and accessible Layer-2 for builders and users.”
