Blockstream Secures $210 Million in Debt Funding

Blockstream has successfully completed a $210 million convertible note funding round, led by Fulgur Ventures. This funding will enable the Bitcoin infrastructure firm to accelerate the development of its layer-2 products.

In a press release, Blockstream indicated that a portion of the funding will also be directed towards expanding its mining capacity and purchasing additional Bitcoin. This strategy mirrors that of MicroStrategy, which has successfully amassed a significant Bitcoin reserve, currently holding 252,220 BTC.

Earlier this year, in January, Blockstream announced a $125 million convertible note financing round aimed at enhancing its institutional Bitcoin mining services. Additionally, the firm sought $50 million for similar initiatives in August 2023.

Accelerating Layer-2 Networks

According to Blockstream’s announcement on October 15, the new funding will support the development of its two main layer-2 solutions: Liquid Network and Greenlight.

Liquid Network is a Bitcoin layer-2 solution that is interoperable with the Lightning Network. Launched in 2018 as Bitcoin’s first sidechain, Liquid provides infrastructure for asset tokenization on the Bitcoin network. Blockstream reports that over $1.8 billion worth of assets have been issued on the Liquid Network, which includes stablecoins and tokenized securities. Currently, there are 3,844 bitcoins locked on-chain within Liquid. The network has seen growing adoption in the real-world asset market, exemplified by the issuance of $1 billion in promissory notes by Mexico’s Mifiel.

Greenlight allows developers to integrate non-custodial Bitcoin Lightning Network-powered payments into decentralized applications and businesses.

In a related development, Blockstream has appointed Michael Minkevich as its new Chief Operations Officer. Minkevich previously worked as a product engineer at Luxoft, a digital asset strategy and engineering platform.

With this substantial funding, Blockstream aims to enhance its capabilities in the Bitcoin ecosystem, further solidifying its position as a leader in the industry.