Alpen Labs Looks to Scale Bitcoin With Zero-Knowledge Proofs Using $10.6M Funding

Bitcoin second-tier technology company Alpen Labs, having secured $10.6 million in investments, aims to expand the blockchain of Bitcoin, the leading cryptocurrency, through the application of zero-knowledge proofs.

After a successful funding round, Alpen Labs has come out of hiding and revealed that they have been working diligently for the past year on building Bitcoin rollup infrastructure. Their goal is to add the capability of smart contracts to the Bitcoin network.

Ribbit Capital headed the investment of $10.6 million in the company’s seed round, with participation from Castle Island Ventures, Robot Ventures, and Axiom Capital.

Using zero-knowledge tech, data can be safely and swiftly exchanged between entities. This technology is instrumental in expanding blockchains via rollups. Rollups signify interconnected networks functioning alongside a blockchain. They collect transactions into batches for eventual settlement on the main network, which could potentially enhance speed and decrease expenses.

Historically, major advancements in Bitcoin’s development have been less common due to its core team prioritizing network simplicity for enhanced security.

Starting in early 2023, the widespread adoption of the Ordinals protocol and the introduction of Robin Linus’s BitVM showed a significant surge in interest and potential for enhancing Bitcoin’s capabilities.