ZKM, an Ethereum scaling infrastructure provider, has secured USD 5 million in a pre-Series A funding round led by OKX Ventures, with participation from Amber, Metis Foundation, and Crypto.com, among several others.

The company plans to use the funding to support the development and launch of its Bitcoin layer-2 network. The network will leverage a proof-of-stake decentralized sequencer architecture to enable users to leverage their Bitcoin holdings to earn yield from staking. Moreover, users can perform cross-chain transfers and access other DeFi functions across other blockchains using Bitcoin, such as Ethereum, Cosmos, and Tron.

ZKM offers a zero-knowledge (zk) proof-based solution named the "Entangled Rollup Network," which allows users to consolidate data from different blockchains. The network ensures security without requiring additional consensus assumptions by leveraging zkMIPS, a verifiable computing platform. zkMIPS generates zk proofs that can be verified on an Ethereum-based transaction settlement layer. Users can leverage the network to perform instant withdrawals and connect liquidity across other layer-2 networks.

Analyst QuickTake: The Bitcoin layer-2 space has seen a large influx in investor interest, with ZKM becoming the second Bitcoin layer-2 network developer to raise funding this week alongside Botanix Labs (which raised USD 8.5 million). Moreover, similar startups such as Atomiq ( USD 3 million ), Portal ( USD 34 million ), BabylonChain , and BounceBit have also raised funding in the last few months. Notably, ZKM aims to differentiate itself by providing developers access to its zk technology to ensure security on the Bitcoin blockchain without compromising privacy.