Hemi Labs Secures $15 Million to Enhance Bitcoin DeFi Ecosystem
Hemi Labs, founded by Jeff Garzik, has raised $15 million to enhance its Bitcoin programmability network. Key details include:
- The funding round included YZi Labs, Republic Digital, HyperChain Capital, and others.
- Funds will be used for applications related to borrowing, lending, and trading on Bitcoin and for developing the Hemi Virtual Machine (hVM), which integrates a Bitcoin node within an Ethereum VM.
- Hemi aims to provide DeFi protocols with tools that maintain security and decentralization without requiring new skills.
- Hemi has over 100,000 verified users and 400,000 community members, with more than 70 partners including Sushi and MetaMask.
- Total value locked in the ecosystem reached $1.2 billion.
- This funding follows the mainnet launch in March, which had $440 million committed.
- Hemi’s growth is part of a trend among Bitcoin DeFi projects aiming to leverage BTC's $2.3 trillion market cap.
- Competitors like Lombard and BOB are also working on transforming Bitcoin into an active player in decentralized finance.