Blockstream Announces $55 Million Series A
Major funding round for sidechain development company, supporting Bitcoin scaling research.
On February 8, 2016, Blockstream announced it had raised $55 million in Series A funding, one of the largest funding rounds for a Bitcoin-focused company at the time. The round was led by AXA Strategic Ventures, with participation from Digital Garage, FuturePerfect Ventures, Khosla Ventures, Mosaic Ventures, and individual investors including Reid Hoffman and Eric Schmidt.
Blockstream had been founded by several prominent Bitcoin developers and cryptographers to develop sidechain technology that could enable new functionality while maintaining Bitcoin's security properties. The funding would support continued research and development of sidechain solutions, which were seen as a potential way to scale Bitcoin without requiring changes to the main protocol.
The investment was significant because it provided substantial resources for Bitcoin scaling research at a time when the community was divided over how to address capacity limitations. Critics raised concerns about the potential influence of Blockstream's business interests on Bitcoin Core development, while supporters argued that well-funded research was essential for Bitcoin's long-term success.