The layer 2 blockchain network is based on Bitcoin (BOB) has raised $ 21 million in strategic financing sleeves since December 2024, with $ 9.5 million guaranteed during its last round, according to a press release sent to Cintelelelegraph.
Many existing investors have increased their financial commitments in the latest strategic cycle of $ 9.5 million, including Castle Island, as well as new Anchorage, Amber Group and Sats strategic investors.
Nic Carter, founding partner of Castle Island, told Cointtelegraph why they decided to double their investment:
“We also continue to believe that Bitcoin will be the foundation of Defi, and we think that Bob will be a L2 brand.”
Dominik Harz, director of technology at Bob, told Cintelegraph that the next important step of the company was to launch the BITVM bridge in production. The bridge will allow the use of native Bitcoin (BTC) of Defi to Bob and to facilitate BTC transfers to other channels.
Bob plans to launch the purpose of the BTC by the end of 2025, with future upgrades allowing secure bridges by BTC in Solana, Ethereum, Suis and other smart contract channels.
“Users, institutions, applications and portfolios will be able to access BTC DEFI native via Bob,” said Harz.
The Bob testnet has recently been put online with the support of partners such as Lombard, Amber Digital and Rockawayx. A main launch is scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2025.
Brass Bitcoin and Ethereum
Bob uses the hybrid chain model, which combines the safety and stability of Bitcoin with the versatility of the Ethereum DEFI ecosystem.
Bob is a hybrid because it is simultaneously a member of the Superchain, taking advantage of the Pile OP as Rollup Ethereum, as well as a network secured by Bitcoin, integrating Babylon for the finality of Bitcoin via billions of dollars of BTC Jalon.
Thursday, the total value of locked Bob is $ 212 million, while DEFI TVL is $ 132.2 million, with 553,000 users.
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Bitcoin DEFI native is on the way
Previously, Bitcoin DEFI was largely based on centralized institutions or wrapped bitcoin chips such as WBTC (WBTC), TBTC (TBTC) and Huobi BTC (HBTC). These so-called “bitcoin” tokens were representations of the real BTC, where users exceeded their real BTC with a centralized or multisignature goalkeeper in exchange for a tokenized version which could be used on Onchain.
Although all BTC bridges have historically counted on the guard several times, BOBM2 of BOB allows users to interact with the DEFI applications using their native BTC directly, without guarding or packaging required.
Bitvm2 is the latest Bitvm design, co-written by the co-founder of Bob Alexei Zamyatin. It allows proofs of practical fraud on bitcoin, which allow users to apply the minimized bridging between confidence between Bitcoin L1 and Bob.
By taking advantage of this technology, Bob aims to bring bitcoin closer to decentralized finance in Ethereum style, allowing Bitcoin users to engage in Defi without losing control of their assets. The network aims to preserve the safety of Bitcoin while activating the interaction with the DEFI protocols based on Ethereum.
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