Midl, an infrastructure dedicated to introducing smart contracts to the Bitcoin network and supporting native decentralized applications (dApps) and financial products, has announced the completion of a $2.4 million seed funding round.
The round was led by Draper Associates, an early-stage venture capital firm founded by Tim Draper, which has previously invested in industry-leading companies such as Coinbase, Robinhood, and Ledger. Additionally, the cross-border blockchain innovation fund Draper Dragon also participated in the investment, having previously supported notable projects like Kelp DAO and Ether.Fi.
This funding milestone marks another important stage in the development of the Bitcoin financial ecosystem and highlights the growing institutional interest in BTCFi. BTCFi represents a new wave of native decentralized finance for Bitcoin. Through Midl, developers can now directly build and run dApps on the Bitcoin network, unlocking the potential of its $2 trillion in liquidity.
Midl founder Iva Wisher stated: "It's a rare opportunity to get involved so early in such an important field. Midl has brought Bitcoin's programmability to an unprecedented height. The native Bitcoin Token standard finally has a home that can support truly functional applications and economic systems, including trading, DeFi, gaming, governance, and more."
Unlocking Bitcoin's Potential
Unlike solutions that rely on sidechains, bridges, or Layer 2, Midl introduces a native execution environment for Bitcoin, enabling decentralized applications to run directly on the Bitcoin network.
This environment includes seamless support for native Bitcoin Token standards, allowing them to be traded, used functionally, and applied in various products and services from day one.
Currently, Midl is in the testnet phase, with the mainnet expected to launch soon. Several early DeFi protocols are already running on the testnet, with over 20 projects in various stages of deployment on the network.
In addition to technical deployment, Midl has launched a series of initiatives for retail users to help the Bitcoin ecosystem achieve practical usage and liquidity from the first day. These efforts aim to drive early adoption and inject liquidity into the Bitcoin ecosystem before the mainnet launch.
Led by Veteran Early-Stage Tech Investors
Draper Associates, founded by Tim Draper in 1985, is a venture capital firm known for its forward-looking investment philosophy, funding many transformative tech companies across multiple industries. The firm has a strong portfolio in crypto and blockchain, having supported early leaders like Coinbase, Ledger, and Robinhood.
Draper Dragon is a cross-border venture capital firm focusing on early-stage Web3 and tech startups. The company invests in innovative blockchain projects shaping the future of decentralized finance and digital ecosystems, with a portfolio including notable projects like Kelp DAO and Ether.Fi.
About Midl
Midl is an execution environment that introduces smart contracts to Bitcoin, opening the door for a new generation of decentralized applications natively built on the world's most secure blockchain, and provides dedicated developer tools.
Through Midl, full-scale dApps can run directly on the Bitcoin network: everything that could be achieved on Ethereum can now be built on Bitcoin. The protocol improves developer and user experience while enhancing scalability and throughput by allowing multiple EVM-like interactions within a single Bitcoin transaction.
Note: This article is a contributed piece and does not represent the views of ChainCatcher, nor does it constitute investment advice.
