Bitlayer Advances Institutional-Grade Bitcoin Layer2 Infrastructure with $25M Funding and BTR Token Launch

Bitlayer, founded by industry veterans Charlie Hu and Kevin He, is a Bitcoin Layer2 solution built on BitVM technology to enable scalability and programmability without requiring Bitcoin mainnet upgrades. Since its mainnet launch in Q1 2024, Bitlayer has processed over 71 million on-chain transactions and reached a peak TVL of $900 million, consistently ranking first among Bitcoin L2 networks on DefiLlama. The project’s core innovations include a fully decentralized BitVM Bridge and a Rollup architecture for secure, high-throughput asset transfers and smart contract execution. Bitlayer has raised $25 million from top-tier investors such as Polychain Capital, Franklin Templeton, OKX Ventures and Alliance DAO, positioning itself as “institutional-grade Bitcoin financial infrastructure.” Its governance token BTR officially began TGE on August 27, enabling governance voting, node staking and potential gas fee settlement. Strategic partnerships with major mining pools—including Antpool, F2Pool and SpiderPool—reinforce network security and liquidity. Looking ahead, Bitlayer plans to scale YBTC holdings to over 10,000 BTC across leading DeFi protocols, roll out Bitlayer v2 and v3 to support parallel execution and higher throughput, and develop ETP solutions and institutional products for sustainable Bitcoin yield. Backed by a 50-member team (60% developers) with experience from Polygon, Huobi Chain and Alibaba Super Chain, Bitlayer aims to become the go-to infrastructure provider for institutional Bitcoin DeFi.
Bullish
This news is bullish for the crypto market because Bitlayer’s rapid mainnet growth, top-tier funding, institutional positioning and BTR token launch signal accelerating institutional adoption of Bitcoin Layer2 and DeFi. The $25 million backing by Polychain, Franklin Templeton and OKX Ventures validates Bitlayer’s technology, while strategic partnerships with major mining pools enhance network security and liquidity. The BTR token sale and planned ETP integrations are likely to drive short-term demand and trading volume. In the long term, Bitlayer’s roadmap to scale YBTC, deploy v2/v3 upgrades, and develop institutional-grade products should reinforce Bitcoin’s on-chain utility and foster a deeper DeFi ecosystem—echoing past bullish catalysts like Ethereum’s successful Layer2 rollups and major token launches that spurred market momentum.