Bitlayer, a Bitcoin layer-2 network, has secured USD 9 million in an extended Series A funding round led by Polychain Capital, with participation from Franklin Templeton, SCB Limited, Selini Capital, G-20 Group, and other institutional investors. This brings Bitlayer's total funding to USD 25 million.

The company plans to use the new capital to accelerate the development and deployment of Bitlayer and support the launch of Bitlayer V2, a Bitcoin-native rollup.

Analyst QuickTake: The Bitcoin-based DeFi space has seen a large influx in investor interest, with many startups raising funding. These include Arch Labs , ZKM , and Botanix Labs , which raised USD 7 million , USD 5 million , and USD 8.5 million , respectively, within the last six months. Notably, this funding marks Bitlayer's fourth round for the year, following its initial USD 5 million seed round in March, its investment from OKX Ventures in May, and its USD 11 million Series A round in July.