BOB Secures $9.5M to Build a Bitcoin-Ethereum Hybrid Chain: The Future of Bitcoin DeFi?

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BOB Secures $9.5M to Build a Bitcoin-Ethereum Hybrid Chain: The...

Todor Tsonev
7 August, 2025, 16:01
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Bitcoin DeFi Project BOB Raises $9.5M to Advance Hybrid Chain Development

Bitcoin DeFi protocol BOB (Build on Bitcoin) has secured $9.5 million in a new strategic funding round, bringing its total capital raised to $21.1 million. The announcement, shared Thursday, underscores growing institutional confidence in Bitcoin-native decentralized finance.

The round included renewed backing from Castle Island Ventures — which led BOB’s original $10 million seed round — alongside returning investors such as Ledger Cathay Fund, RockawayX, Asymmetric, IOSG Ventures, UTXO Management, Daedalus, CMS, Bankless Ventures, Hypersphere, Alliance, and Sigil/Zeeprime.

New participants in the latest raise include Anchorage, Amber Group, and Sats Ventures. BOB previously secured a $1.6 million angel round, though no updated valuation was disclosed following the latest round.

Castle Island Doubles Down on BitVM and Bitcoin DeFi

“We believe in the enormous potential of Bitcoin DeFi and see BitVM as the best path forward for trustless BTC deposits and withdrawals,” said Nic Carter, Founding Partner at Castle Island Ventures. “BOB is the only Layer 2 implementing both BitVM for trustless deposits and Bitcoin finality via staked BTC. We're excited to increase our investment and support BOB's mission.”

BOB to Use Funds for Development of Bitcoin-Ethereum Hybrid Chain

BOB intends to use the fresh capital to accelerate the rollout of its hybrid Layer 2 model, which seeks to unlock native Bitcoin DeFi use cases and cross-chain liquidity. The goal is to combine Bitcoin’s security and finality with Ethereum’s programmability, positioning BOB as a secure, scalable gateway to yield-generating DeFi opportunities for BTC holders.

“With recent developments and Tier 1 partners choosing BOB to support their Bitcoin strategies, we’re redefining Bitcoin’s role in DeFi,” said Alexei Zamyatin, BOB Co-Founder and BitVM core contributor.

What Is BOB and How Does It Work?

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BOB (Build on Bitcoin) is building a Hybrid Chain, combining the strengths of Bitcoin and Ethereum ecosystems. It aims to secure apps, assets, and transactions using "staked BTC" and trustless BitVM-based bridges.

While not yet a fully trust-minimized rollup in the Ethereum sense, BOB currently operates as a hybrid EVM-compatible chain that leverages Bitcoin anchoring and multisig bridges. These trust assumptions are expected to be reduced over time with the progression of BitVM and other trustless bridge protocols.

Recent Milestones and Testnet Launch

BOB recently launched native BTC support on testnet, backed by partners such as Lombard, Amber Digital, and RockawayX. Using its BitVM bridge, BOB plans to bring real BTC — not wrapped tokens — into DeFi ecosystems once the mainnet goes live.

Why It Matters for Bitcoin and DeFi

This latest investment round marks a major step in Bitcoin’s expanding footprint in the DeFi space, historically dominated by Ethereum. As institutional players increasingly look to utilize BTC beyond holding, projects like BOB are building the necessary infrastructure to make Bitcoin yield generation and on-chain utility a reality.

BOB’s approach represents a growing movement toward Bitcoin-native Layer 2s, as more developers and investors shift attention to unlocking Bitcoin’s $1+ trillion market cap for DeFi participation.