Blockstream raises $210 million for Bitcoin Layer-2 solutions

Bitcoin infrastructure firm Blockstream has announced a $210 million funding round. Fulgur Ventures led this massive funding round, which will focus primarily on Layer-2 Bitcoin development.

Blockstream also allocates some of these funds for mining infrastructure and direct purchases of Bitcoin, but according to the press release, these goals appear secondary.

Block Stream Fundraising Rally

Bitcoin infrastructure company Blockstream announced the close of its latest convertible note financing round on October 15. This fundraising round, led by Fulgur Ventures, raised a total of $210 million. These new funds will mainly go towards Layer-2 (L2) development, mining infrastructure upgrades and outright Bitcoin purchases.

“This fundraising is critical in our journey to connect Bitcoin with mainstream finance. We are excited to bring on Michael Minkiewicz as COO and grow Fulgur Ventures' Bitcoin financing,” CEO Adam Buck said on social media.

Read more: Layer-2 Crypto Projects for 2024: Top Picks

Blockstream was first launched in 2011. For example, Back was recently featured as a “key crypto figure” in the HBO documentary Unmasking Satoshi Nakamoto.

Additionally, this wasn't Blockstream's only major fundraising drive in the second half of 2024. The firm opened a series of three funding rounds for the BMN2 security token in September after raising $7 million in the previous round in July. But this round is huge, and the partnership with Fulgur suggests a special focus on L2 technology.

“We believe in Bitcoin as the next-generation politically independent financial system, the basis of decentralized finance in the future. Bitcoin has an efficient settlement layer but needs a Layer-2 solution for daily transactions,” Fulgur's website reported.

Blockstream's two L2 solutions, Liquid and Greenlight, have slightly different specializations, but both connect to the Lightning Network. Liquidity alone has $1.8 billion in assets, and Greenlight operates over 150 thousand live Lightning nodes.

Read more: Beginner's tutorial to start using Lightning Network

Although Blockstream mentions two additional goals, mining infrastructure and direct Bitcoin purchases, the press release mentions these secondary goals sparingly. So far, all Blockstream media announcements have painted these L2 projects as the main focus. Any specifics on the company's secondary goals are still unclear.

In addition, BeenCrypto reports that Bitcoin L2 solutions have recently managed to attract a significant amount of funding. The L2 projects collectively raised $94.6 million in Q2 2024.