Solv Protocol secures $11m strategic funding to drive BTC staking

Solv Protocol, a project focused on bringing Bitcoin staking to a broader audience, has successfully raised $11 million in a strategic funding round, bringing its total funding to $25 million. The round was backed by several major venture capital firms, including Nomura’s Laser Digital, Blockchain Capital, and other investors such as gumi Cryptos Capital, OKX Ventures, and CMT Digital. The valuation of Solv Protocol post-funding is pegged at $200 million.

The funding will support Solv’s efforts to expand Bitcoin staking through its Staking Abstraction Layer (SAL). SAL allows Bitcoin holders to stake their coins across multiple protocols and chains, thereby tapping into various decentralized finance (DeFi) opportunities. This expansion aims to close the gap between Bitcoin and Ethereum in terms of staking participation, which currently significantly favors Ethereum, particularly due to the popularity of platforms like Lido and EigenLayer.

Bitcoin’s staking market remains underdeveloped compared to Ethereum’s, where Ethereum 2.0’s staking ecosystem dominates. However, Solv Protocol sees a massive opportunity in unlocking more staking potential for Bitcoin holders, who control a market cap of over $1.3 trillion. According to Ryan Chow, CEO and co-founder of Solv Protocol, if Bitcoin’s staking rate were to reach similar levels as Ethereum’s 28%, it could unlock $330 billion in value for the ecosystem.

Since launching, Solv Protocol has staked over 20,000 BTC, worth more than $1.3 billion, across 10 blockchain networks. Recently, in September, the platform expanded its Bitcoin staking service to Base, a Layer-2 Ethereum chain developed by Coinbase. Users of Base can now participate in Bitcoin DeFi via a wrapped token, cbBTC, further driving the adoption of Bitcoin in the DeFi space.

This development positions Solv Protocol as a key player in the emerging BTCFi (Bitcoin DeFi) market, with potential for significant innovation as Bitcoin staking continues to evolve.