Hybrid Layer 2 project BOB raises $1.6 million from Ledger Ventures and angel investors

BOB (Build on Bitcoin), a hybrid Layer 2 project powered by Bitcoin and Ethereum, has raised $1.6 million in a strategic funding round led by Ledger Ventures, including contributions from various angel investors.

Angel round investors include prominent figures from BlackRock, Rarible, Ordinals, Aave, Curve, Threshold, Magic Eden, Mechanism, Injective, Vessel Capital, Babylon, and Centrifuge, according to a press release issued Tuesday.

Of the funds raised, $1 million will be allocated to a BOB incubator to support new startups focused on Bitcoin infrastructure and BOB dapps.

In the release, Ledger Cathay Fund’s Marguerite de Tavernost said BOB combines “the best of Bitcoin with the innovation capabilities of Ethereum, Bitcoin Layer 2s like BOB unlock unprecedented Bitcoin scalability… 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.”

BOB aims to bridge Bitcoin’s mass adoption potential with Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) capabilities and its ecosystem through a rollup solution using Bitcoin for security and enabling users to access dapps, DeFi and stablecoins. By bridging this gap, BOB hopes to enable developers to build dapps on the world’s largest blockchain network and allow the users of that network greater access to innovative applications on the Ethereum network without having to leave the Bitcoin blockchain.

In March, BOB raised $10 million in seed funding led by Castle Island Ventures. The announcement of the recent round of funding comes after The Block reported an increase in VC capital’s interest in the BTC ecosystem. Managing partner of Multicoin Capital Kyle Samani spoke to The Block of "a developer renaissance" in the BTC ecosystem with the advent of Bitcoin's Taproot upgrade and the Ordinals protocol.

BOB was cofounded in 2023 by Alexei Zamyatin and Dominik Harz. Distributed Crafts, the organization behind its creation, was founded in 2019.