Announcing Our $14M Series A To Expand Bitcoin into an Active, Programmable Asset
Citrea is the only rollup to expand Bitcoin from a passive store of value to an active, programmable asset using zero-knowledge technology.
We’re excited to announce that Citrea has raised $14 million in its Series A funding round, led by Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund, with participation from Maven11, Mirana, dao5, Erik Voorhees, Balaji Srinivasan, Nikil Viswanathan, Mert Mumtaz, Jameson Lopp and other prominent investors. This brings our total funding to $16.7 million, empowering us to further our mission of transforming Bitcoin from a passive store of value into an active, programmable asset through our zero-knowledge rollup. We've also launched Citrea's exclusive developer program, Citrea Origins, to be the driving force behind our mission of a Bitcoin-backed economy.
While Bitcoin has solidified its position as "digital gold"—a secure and decentralized store of value—its broader financial potential has remained untapped due to the lack of a scalability solution that maintains its core principles. This gap has left users with a difficult choice: either keep Bitcoin as a passive store of value or take risks by using intermediaries and other networks for broader use cases. Both these options undermine Bitcoin's role in decentralized finance and threaten the security and longevity of its network. Citrea disrupts this adoption path by introducing a scalability solution that expands Bitcoin’s utility without compromising its decentralization or security.
“Citrea is a major milestone in Bitcoin’s evolution and the first investment we’ve made in the Bitcoin ecosystem,” said Joey Krug, Partner at Founders Fund. “With the strongest team and best technical design we’ve seen in the Bitcoin L2 space, Citrea’s 0→1 technology enables Ethereum-like rollups for smart contracts on Bitcoin in a trust-minimized way. The ability to run smart contracts on top of Bitcoin is a breakthrough many have been waiting for, and Citrea makes it a reality.”
Citrea is the only rollup enhancing Bitcoin blockspace with zero-knowledge technology, enabling Bitcoin to function as a fully programmable financial tool while inheriting the decentralization and security that define its value. By eliminating the need for intermediaries, Citrea allows individuals and institutions to trustlessly buy, lend, borrow, and leverage BTC in a variety of financial activities. This transforms Bitcoin from being just a store of value into a dynamic foundation for decentralized finance.
We’re also excited to launch Citrea Origins, our exclusive developer program, aimed to accelerate the development of Bitcoin-backed decentralized applications. Developers have already start building applications such as Bitcoin-backed stablecoins, decentralized lending platforms, perpetual swaps, and more. The first cohort of selected developers will meet in Bangkok, Thailand, from November 3-10, where they will work directly with our team to bring these projects to life and shape the future of the Bitcoin-backed economy.
“With Citrea, we’re building the infrastructure Bitcoin needs to move beyond just a store of value and step into a new era of Bitcoin-backed decentralized finance,” said Orkun Kilic, co-founder and CEO of Chainway Labs. “Our vision is to unlock a fully Bitcoin-backed economy, and Citrea’s breakthrough in cryptography and engineering makes this vision a reality. We believe Bitcoin can be the foundation for a censorship-resistant monetary layer, driving global hyperbitcoinization.”
For more information and to apply for the Citrea Origins developer program, visit our website or follow us on X.
About Citrea:
Citrea is the only zero-knowledge rollup that increases BTC’s utility and activates Bitcoin blockspace for a new decentralized financial ecosystem. Citrea’s vision is to build scalable infrastructure that advances Bitcoin into its next phase: the foundation for the world’s finance.
About Chainway Labs:
Chainway Labs, the company behind Citrea, was founded by a team of computer scientists specializing in Bitcoin, Ethereum, and cryptography. Our team includes some of the brightest minds in the field, with several medals from the International Mathematics Olympiad and the International Olympiad in Informatics. We are dedicated to advancing Bitcoin’s future.
We are hiring for multiple roles across various teams.
Press Contact
Tugce Smith - tugce@chainway.xyz