• BitVM brought fresh impetus to Bitcoin layer-2 initiatives that seek to introduce greater utility to the network.
• The investment led by trillion-dollar asset manager Franklin Templeton suggests the TradFi world is taking notice as well.

Bitcoin layer-2 blockchain Bitlayer Labs said it raised $11 million in a Series A funding round at a valuation of $300 million.

The investment was led by ABCDE and Franklin Templeton, one of the issuers of a spot bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund in the U.S. The involvement of Franklin Templeton, a trillion-dollar asset manager, suggests the traditional finance (TradFi) world is taking notice of developments in decentralized finance (DeFi).

Bitlayer's layer 2 is based on the BitVM paradigm, which was unveiled last October, laying out a path for Ethereum-style smart contracts on the original blockchain. BitVM brought fresh impetus to initiatives that seek to introduce greater utility to the network through achieving Turing completeness without compromising security.

Turing completeness refers to a system having all the tools required to carry out any calculation or execute any program. Thus it suggests versatility and utility.

“We believe that Bitlayer's unique approach and technology has the potential to unlock new use cases and opportunities for Bitcoin," Kevin Farrelly, managing principal at Franklin Templeton Digital Assets, said in an emailed announcement on Tuesday.

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