London-based crypto infrastructure startup BOB has secured €8.1 million in a strategic funding round to create a hybrid Layer 2 chain that enables users to earn yield on native BTC without custodians or wrapped tokens. This funding round attracted new investors such as Anchorage, Amber Group, and Sats Ventures, alongside increased commitments from previous investors, including Castle Island Ventures, Ledger, RockawayX, Asymmetric, IOSG Ventures, UTXO Management, Daedalus, CMS, Bankless Ventures, Hypersphere, Alliance, and Sigil/Zeeprime. Earlier in 2023, a €1.3 million angel round was raised from undisclosed crypto-native investors. Overall, BOB has accumulated €18 million through various funding rounds since December 2024.
Alexei Zamyatin, BOB Co-founder and BitVM Core Contributor, highlighted the firm’s ability to attract new partners and retain original investors, emphasizing BOB’s commitment to showcasing Bitcoin’s importance in DeFi. With new developments and partnerships, BOB aims to redefine Bitcoin’s role in DeFi by blending the benefits of Bitcoin and Ethereum into its Hybrid model.
Founded in 2024, BOB operates with a distributed team across Europe and North America. Initially maintaining a low profile during its research phase, the company is now preparing for its mainnet launch. The latest funds will expedite the advancement of BOB’s hybrid chain infrastructure, broaden ecosystem integrations, and foster institutional adoption.
BOB positions itself as the gateway to Bitcoin DeFi, aiming to provide a secure and simple platform for earning with Bitcoin. Its Hybrid Chain model leverages the Bitcoin and Ethereum networks, ensuring the security of apps, assets, and transactions with staked BTC. BOB will also maintain BTC-secured bridges to Ethereum and other chains, offering opportunities to earn Bitcoin yield across various chains.
Recently, BOB launched native Bitcoin DeFi on its testnet with support from institutions and DeFi protocols like Lombard, Amber Digital, and RockawayX. This initiative is powered by BOB’s BitVM bridge, facilitating access to native BTC, not wrapped forms, within their Bitcoin DeFi ecosystem upon mainnet launch.
Additionally, BOB established itself as the first hybrid ZK rollup, enhancing cost-efficiency and effectiveness for optimistic rollups through Zero-Knowledge technology. BOB’s integration with Fireblocks improves institutional access to Bitcoin DeFi by pairing secure wallet infrastructure with BOB’s network.
Nic Carter, Founding Partner at Castle Island Ventures, expressed confidence in Bitcoin DeFi and BitVM’s role in achieving trustless BTC transactions, noting BOB as the only Layer 2 implementing both BitVM for trustless deposits and Bitcoin finality for DeFi transactions secured by staked Bitcoin. The firm is eager to increase its investment, supporting BOB’s mission to establish the gateway to Bitcoin DeFi.
As BOB approaches its mainnet release, the startup is updating its public materials, including a LinkedIn page and team listing, in preparation for increased visibility.