Blockstream Raises $210M, Makes Move Into ASIC Development

By David Lemon.
Updated Aug 24, 2021

VICTORIA, BC (PRWEB) August 24, 2021 - Leading Bitcoin infrastructure firm Blockstream has announced raising $210 million as part of a Series B financing on a valuation of $3.2 billion. Investors include Baillie Gifford and iFinex.

The new funding comes alongside the acquisition of Spondoolies intellectual property, and the core team joining Blockstream to build Blockstreams ASIC arm. Spondoolies is a Bitcoin mining hardware manufacturer founded by top Israeli semiconductor veterans. Since its inception in 2013, the Spondoolies team successfully designed and built five different mining products and was one of the earliest teams in the Bitcoin mining industry to deliver energy-efficient and high-performance mining hardware.

Blockstream is bringing on-board the Spondoolies core team and acquiring related IP to launch the world's first enterprise-class miner next year,' explained Dr. Adam Back, CEO of Blockstream. 'The Spondoolies teams pedigree in Bitcoin ASIC design and engineering complements our enterprise-class mining infrastructure, and will accelerate our continuing expansion and decentralization of the Bitcoin mining space.'

Both the funding and acquisition will advance Blockstreams other innovative mining products and services, including the recently announced Blockstream Energy product, which maximizes renewable energy investment returns at power production sites. This new mining infrastructure will be used in many partnerships around the world, including Blockstreams collaboration with Square to develop an open-source, solar-powered mining facility in the United States.

The new capital will also expand Blockstreams mission to build the financial infrastructure of the future, with Bitcoin-focused financial products and the Liquid Network. The Liquid Network is a sidechain-based settlement network that enables faster, more confidential Bitcoin transactions, and the issuance of digital assets for traders and exchanges. It is operated by a federation of cryptocurrency companies located around the world.

Baillie Gifford is committed to backing transformational growth companies at their early stages, said a Baillie Gifford spokesperson. We have enormous respect for Blockstreams founders and management team, and we believe its settlement network for bitcoin-based assets and securities has the potential to transform the design and operation of capital markets.

Since its launch, the Liquid Network has amassed more than $1.1 billion in network value and has seen impressive ecosystem growth with a number of platforms being built on the sidechain.

About Blockstream

Blockstream is the global leader in Bitcoin and blockchain infrastructure. Blockstreams sidechain technology (Liquid Network) enables faster Bitcoin settlements while empowering financial institutions to tokenize assets. Blockstream Mining provides enterprise-class mining facilities for the collocation of Bitcoin mining operations. The Cryptocurrency Data Feed, developed in partnership with Intercontinental Exchange, delivers best-in-class real-time and historical exchange data. Blockstream Green is the worlds most advanced consumer Bitcoin wallet. Blockstream was founded in 2014, with offices and team members distributed around the world.

About the Liquid Network The Liquid Network is a sidechain-based settlement network for traders and exchanges, enabling faster, more confidential Bitcoin transactions and the issuance of digital assets. The Liquid Network is operated and managed by its federated members, ensuring the system has no single point of failure. Learn how to get access to the future of digital asset finance at liquid.net.