Blockstream has just announced that they have raised $210 Million as part of their Series B funding round. The funding round valued Blockstream at $3.2 Billion, with the round being led by Baillie Gifford and iFinex, the operator of Bitfinex. The new investment raised will help Blockstream build financial infrastructure on Bitcoin.
Bitcoin Mining And New Acquisitions
Blockstream has stated that they will use the new capital towards accelerating their Bitcoin mining operations. They will also use capital on the acquisition of Spondoolies. The acquisition will help Blockstream to launch an enterprise-grade miner while also allowing it to focus on the Liquid Network, Bitcoin’s first sidechain. The team will also expand its team of hodlers to help keep up with growth.
Allen Farrington Joins As Board Observer.
Blockstream also announced that Allen Farrington, Baillie Gifford’s investment manager, had joined Blockstream as a board observer. Farrington has been fairly active in the Bitcoin community and is a vocal supporter of Blockstream and the Liquid Network. Farrington talked about his thoughts on Blockstream and working with them, stating,
“It is an honor to be involved with such an important company in the space and to be able to drive forward the development of, and institutionalization of both mining and the Liquid Network. I am convinced of the potential of tokenized securities on the Liquid Network to be transformative for the architecture of capital markets. Bitcoin-based development and Blockstream’s asset issuance and management platforms can contribute to meaningfully decentralizing financial infrastructure, democratizing control over investment products, and firmly embedding openness and programmability in capital markets. I look forward to working closely with Blockstream to make this a reality.”
Delivering Key Bitcoin Infrastructure
Dr. Adam Back founded Blockstream and a group of developers who were convinced about Bitcoin and its potential to transform the world of finance and money. Blockstream started working on the Liquid Network, a side chain of bitcoin in 2014, after raising $21 Million in seed funding.
Blockstream also started working on the c-lightning, a key implementation of the Bitcoin Lightning Network. In 2016, Blockstream raised more funds, with $57 Million raised in Series A funding and a further $11 Million raised through a convertible note.
Continuing To Scale
Blockstream is continuing to scale and deliver key infrastructure to Bitcoin. The Liquid Network has seen significant growth, developing a vast ecosystem. The Liquid Network’s network value is over $1.1 Billion, and several key platforms leverage the side chain. Bitfinex CTO Paolo Ardiono talked about the Liquid Network’s potential, stating,
“Blockstream is at the forefront of innovation in the Bitcoin space after building on top of the protocol for the last seven years. The potential of how all of the different Blockstream technologies fit together is clear. Just the ability to create Lightning Networks on top of Liquid assets like Tether tokens (USDT) will have a revolutionary impact across the world. We are excited to work more closely with Blockstream in the future to bring this to market.”
An On-Ramp For Investment Products
With the increasing interest in security tokens, Blockstream Finance will also act as an on-ramp for investment products. Innovations such as EXO and Blockstream Mining Note are already on the Liquid Network. The Blockstream Mining Note brings together Blockstream Mining and liquid tokens, enabling investors to gain exposure to Bitcoin mining through a simple purchase using Stokr. Stokr is a marketplace created for alternate assets such as the BNM token.
Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.
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