Blockstream has successfully closed a $210 million convertible note financing round led by Fulgur Ventures, marking a pivotal shift in its evolution as the global leader in financial infrastructure technology powered by Bitcoin.
The capital will be used to accelerate the market adoption and development of Blockstream’s layer-2 technologies, expand its mining operations in preparation for the next Bitcoin market cycle, and significantly grow Blockstream’s already-substantial Bitcoin Treasury—positioning it as one of the largest publicly known treasuries in the world.
Blockstream’s layer-2 solutions, powering both the Liquid and Lightning networks, address growing demand from enterprises for secure, scalable Bitcoin-based financial products. These solutions combine the security and reliability of the public Bitcoin blockchain with the flexibility of private or federated enterprise deployments. Capitalizing on increasing institutional interest in both Bitcoin as an asset class and the broader potential of asset tokenization, Liquid specifically aims to become the de facto infrastructure for assets within the Bitcoin ecosystem, enabling tokenization and real-world asset (RWA) integration into traditional financial markets.
“This latest fundraise represents a defining moment for Blockstream as we embark on a critical new phase of growth to further bridge the gap between Bitcoin and the wider world of finance,” said Blockstream Co-Founder and CEO, Dr. Adam Back. “We are especially excited to welcome Michael Minkevich as COO, and grateful for the support of Fulgur Ventures, whose combined expertise will be vital, as we look to capitalize on new opportunities across the financial industry and other key sectors.”
Conceived by Dr. Adam Back and other leading cryptographers in 2014 as an approach to building open, more decentralized global financial markets on Bitcoin, the Liquid Network launched as Bitcoin’s first production sidechain in 2018. Operated by a globally-distributed federation of over 70 members and with Blockstream as its technology provider, Liquid’s benefits include fast, confidential settlements and the ability to issue digital assets, such as stablecoins and security tokens in a simple and secure way without the risks associated with complex smart contracts.
A total of over $1.8 billion in assets, including stablecoins, tokenized bonds and securities, have been issued on Liquid to date, with the network boasting over 3,844 BTC locked on-chain.
Liquid brings the Future of RWA Tokenization closer
One area in which Liquid is rapidly gaining traction is the growing $300 billion real-world assets (RWA) space. Recent use cases include Mexican fintech innovator Mifiel’s issuance of over $1 billion in Liquid-based digital promissory notes, setting a precedent for the country’s non-banking financial institutions (NBFIs) to access global liquidity. Another example is Blockstream partner STOKR’s issuance of the MicroStrategy Note—CMSTR—the Bitcoin ecosystem’s first security token fully backed by shares of a Nasdaq-listed company. CMSTR can be traded peer-to-peer against Bitcoin on SideSwap, a decentralized exchange built on Liquid.
July 2024 meanwhile saw the launch of the latest Blockstream Mining Note. BMN2, an EU-compliant hash rate-backed security token, builds on the record-breaking success of its predecessor, BMN1, which delivered cash-on-cash returns of up to 103% over its three-year term—one of the highest payouts in the history of RWA securities.
Blockstream’s Comprehensive Financial Infrastructure Solution
The Liquid Network works in tandem with Blockstream’s Lightning Network implementation, Core Lightning (CLN), and hosted cloud infrastructure service, Greenlight. This integration consolidates issuance and transactions for assets, stablecoins, and Bitcoin, uniquely positioning Blockstream among competitors that typically focus solely on either payments or token issuance.
Leadership Expansion: Michael Minkevich Joins as COO
To guide this next phase of strategic growth, Blockstream has appointed Michael Minkevich as Chief Operating Officer. Michael brings over two decades of experience in developing advanced technological solutions for traditional industries, including finance. Previously responsible for product engineering at Luxoft (NYSE: LXFT), he played a key role in expanding the company’s services to a global Fortune 500 client base, positioning Luxoft as a global leader in the field. He was also instrumental in the company’s successful US IPO.
“Blockstream has a unique product portfolio and one of the best engineering teams building reliable Bitcoin solutions, making it perfectly suited to lead the ongoing transformation of the fintech industry,” said Blockstream COO, Michael Minkevich. “I’m thrilled to work with Dr. Adam Back, one of the pioneers of the Bitcoin revolution on helping our customers bring digital assets to the mainstream.”
About Blockstream
Blockstream is the global leader in Bitcoin and blockchain infrastructure. Blockstream’s sidechain technology (Liquid Network) enables trustless Bitcoin swap settlements and secure, dependable smart-contracts while empowering financial institutions to tokenize assets. Blockstream Mining provides colocation services to miners, across multiple enterprise-class mining facilities. Blockstream’s Core Lightning implementation of the open Lightning Network protocol is the go-to code for enterprise Lightning Network deployments on Bitcoin. Blockstream Jade is an easy-to-use, open-source hardware wallet that offers advanced security for Bitcoin and Liquid assets. Blockstream Green is the world’s most advanced consumer Bitcoin wallet. Blockstream was founded in 2014, with offices and team members distributed around the world.
About Liquid Network
The Liquid Network is a Bitcoin sidechain and layer-2 solution that enables faster, more confidential bitcoin transactions and the issuance of digital assets, such as stablecoins, security tokens, and other financial instruments. The network is operated and managed by a globally distributed federation of more than 70 of Bitcoin’s leading enterprises. To date, Liquid has amassed more than $1.8 billion in network value and remains foundational to Bitcoin’s growth and adoption, particularly in the rapidly developing security token market.
About Fulgur Ventures
Since 2019 Fulgur Ventures specializes in funding startups across the Bitcoin and Lightning Network ecosystems, including both early stage and follow-on rounds. The firm is focused on supporting startups that drive market adoption of bitcoin and scaling of bitcoin technology, such as Relai, Zebedee, LN Markets, Breez, Fold and over 50 others.