Alphen Labs

About

Alpen Labs is a Bitcoin infrastructure and fintech company working on zero-knowledge (ZK) technology to make Bitcoin-based financial systems more scalable and private. Founded in 2022, the team is developing a modular rollup layer for Bitcoin that allows use cases such as DeFi, stablecoins, loans, and payments while maintaining decentralization. Alpen Labs, with a heavy focus on ZK cryptography, Bitcoin Layer 2 scaling, and financial inclusion, aims to shape Bitcoin DeFi (BTCFi) and the next phase of cryptocurrency infrastructure. Key Features of Alpen Labs: • Creates a modular rollup layer atop Bitcoin to improve scalability and add smart contract-like capabilities. • Supports a Bitcoin-native financial environment that allows for direct trade, lending, borrowing, stablecoins, and yield. • Strata enables Bitcoin programmability without the need for wrapped tokens or custodians. • Improves transaction speed and cost with scalable Bitcoin Layer 2 solutions based on rollups and ZK technology. Alpen Labs Milestones: Year Key Achievements 2022 Founding The company began in San Francisco, with an initial focus on research for ZK-rollups on Bitcoin. 2023 Technical Foundations The team unveiled the main technical designs for Bitcoin validity rollups. They also began researching "Glock" (Garbled Locks), with the goal of enhancing 1-of-N verification. 2024 Strategic Funding The project raised $10.6 million in a seed round. Ribbit Capital led the round, with Castle Island Ventures, Axiom Capital, and Robot Ventures also participating. 2025 Testnet and "Strata" Vision The Strata idea was presented as a modular Bitcoin layer. Two public testnets, Shanghai and Prague, have gone live to accommodate EVM-compatible Bitcoin applications. Glock and Starknet Grant The team obtained funding from the Starknet Foundation to build trust-minimized bridges. They also released the Glock paper, showing around 500x efficiency compared to BitVM. Financial Innovation The Bitcoin Dollar (BTD), a Bitcoin-backed stablecoin, was announced. Alongside this, the project raised another $8.5M to speed up mainnet development.

Funding

• Seed RoundRibbit Capital1,06,00,00010 Apr 2024

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