Bitcoin's New Supernetwork Ambition: Hemi Secures $15M for Cross-Chain Layer-2 Protocol

Bitcoin is about to get a major programming upgrade. Hemi, a blockchain infrastructure project helmed by early Bitcoin developer Jeff Garzik, just closed a $15 million funding round designed to accelerate the rollout of its Layer-2 solution—a protocol that essentially bridges Bitcoin’s fortress-like security with Ethereum’s smart-contract ecosystem.

The vision is ambitious: create a unified platform that lets developers build decentralized applications on Bitcoin’s rails while maintaining full interoperability with Ethereum. Think of it as giving Bitcoin a programmability layer without compromising what makes it powerful in the first place.

Investment Round Details and Backers

The capital infusion was co-led by YZi Labs, Republic Crypto, and Hyperchain Capital, with notable support flooding in from Breyer Capital, Selini Capital, Big Brain VC (yes, the big brain meme investors are actually funding serious infrastructure), Crypto.com Capital, Quantstamp, and Web3.com Ventures. That’s a diverse roster of validators betting that cross-chain interoperability remains a genuine market need.

What the Money Goes Toward

Hemi’s leadership plans to deploy the $15 million across three fronts: expanding the engineering team to build out the protocol, allocating ecosystem grants to attract developers, and bankrolling the mainnet launch. The timing matters—Layer-2 solutions have become increasingly competitive, and funding engineering velocity is essential for standing out.

The Broader Market Signal

What’s noteworthy here is that despite ongoing turbulence in crypto markets, venture capital continues to flow into infrastructure plays. Cross-chain bridges and Layer-2 solutions remain attractive because they address a real constraint: Bitcoin’s undeniable security versus Ethereum’s developer tooling. Hemi’s positioning as a “programmability layer” suggests the market still believes in architectural solutions that merge separate blockchain strengths rather than betting on a single winner.

The race to become Bitcoin’s dominant application layer just got more crowded—and better funded.