BTC re-staking platform SatLayer secures $8m in pre-seed funding

SaltLayer, a Bitcoin-backed staking platform built on the Babylon staking protocol, has completed a pre-seed investment round of $8 million.

The Bitcoin (BTC) retaking platform has received backing from several crypto-focused venture capital firms, according to an announcement published on X on August 22. Castle Island Ventures and web3 venture capital firm Hack VC co-led the pre-seed round. The protocol will use the funding to bring its retaking product to the growing Bitcoin market.

What is SaltLayer?

SatLayer allows users to earn rewards on their BTC through staking and liquid retaking. Babylon, which recently raised $70 million in a funding round led by Paradigm, powers the ecosystem. The platform allows proof-of-stake systems, including layer-2 chains, aggregations, oracles, and data availability layers, to leverage BTC in staking.

With SaltLayer, any decentralized application or infrastructure provider can participate as a Bitcoin Verified Service. Similar to actively verified services, dApps and other providers on SaltLayer offer users the opportunity to lock their BTC for yield.

Earn rewards on idle BTC

Users can deposit liquid staking tokens to help secure BVSs through the security of Bitcoin and in return earn rewards and other network benefits. This works when users first deposit Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) or BTC liquid staking tokens from Solv Protocol, PumpBTC, pStake, Lombard, and Bedrock.

WBTC or LSTs help secure BVSs, and users receive receipt tokens representing the funds deposited. Using these tokens, holders can re-stake via SaltLayer to start generating rewards.

Other venture capital firms that backed SaltLayer’s pre-seed round include Franklin Templeton Digital Assets, OKX Ventures, and Mirana Ventures.