Key Points
- Alpen Labs, a Bitcoin scaling startup, has announced previous seed funding of $10.6 million.
- The company aims to resolve Bitcoin network issues using zero-knowledge technology and rollups.
Alpen Labs, a startup focused on scaling Bitcoin, recently came out of stealth mode and disclosed that it has raised $10.6 million in past seed funding.
The seed funding round, led by Ribbit Capital in 2023, allowed Alpen Labs to expand its team of cryptographers and engineers. The company also secured support from various other investors, including Castle Island Ventures, Geometry Research, Stillmark, Village Global, Robot Ventures, Axiom Capital, WillowTree Investments, and several individual backers.
Alpen Labs’ Mission and Technology
Alpen Labs is dedicated to addressing certain issues associated with the Bitcoin network, such as privacy, programmability, and scalability. The company is employing zero-knowledge proofs (ZKPs), which authenticate data without disclosing any information about the data itself. By leveraging zero-knowledge technology, Alpen Labs aims to break down the process of running extensive programs on Bitcoin into smaller, more manageable tasks of verifying smaller digital signatures, thereby helping to scale the network.
In addition to this, Alpen Labs is also working on developing Bitcoin rollup infrastructure. This technology combines multiple transactions into a single transaction on the blockchain. The company is planning to disclose more details about its rollup ecosystem in the near future, with a testnet launch scheduled for 2024.
Future Plans and Vision
“We envision a programmable, scalable Layer 2 ecosystem on Bitcoin as the best place for on-chain finance: from payments to lending, custody, stablecoins and use cases not-yet-imagined,” said Simanta Gautam, Co-Founder and CEO of Alpen Labs. The company’s long-term goals include the creation of BTC-collateralized stablecoins, hashrate futures for miners, applications that offer trust-minimized yield on BTC, and overcollateralized borrowing on BTC.
Justin Saslaw of Ribbit Capital expressed his belief in Bitcoin’s potential, stating, “With over one trillion dollars stored in Bitcoin, we believe it has significant potential to usher in a better money future, with unprecedented global appeal.” He further added that the efforts of the Alpen team to introduce greater scalability, expressivity, and privacy to Bitcoin are crucial in unlocking opportunities for application-level creativity and growth, leading to a more dynamic and inclusive financial ecosystem.
