Hemi Labs Raises $15M to Create ‘Supernetwork’ Merging Bitcoin and Ethereum
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Hemi Labs, the brainchild of former Bitcoin core developer Jeff Garzik, announced on September 18 that it raised $15 million in a funding round to develop its new blockchain network, Hemi.
Binance Labs, Breyer Capital, and Big Brain Holdings led the first fundraising round, backing plans to combine the powers of Bitcoin and Ethereum into one “supernetwork.”
Co-founder Max Sanchez said the company plans to use these funds to expand Hemi’s engineering team, add more Bitcoin interoperability features, and offer developers advanced customizability, incentivization, grants, and community adoption.
What Hemi Labs Brings to the Table
Hemi Labs seeks to tackle a multi-billion dollar problem in the DeFi space, addressing the $2.8 billion lost in DeFi bridge hacks by 2024. The company opposes centralized bridges that “reintroduce trust into a supposedly trustless system,” the firm added in an X thread.
The Hemi Bitcoin Kit (hBK) is another innovation from Hemi Labs, designed to enable developers to work with Bitcoin more effectively.
This kit unlocks features such as trustless smart contracts and decentralized financial products, which were previously difficult to implement directly on the Bitcoin network.
With the hBK, developers can create applications like Bitcoin (re)staking, Bitcoin-enabled lending markets, and democratized Bitcoin Miner Extractable Value (MEV) marketplaces.
Also, PoP’s modular nature enables Hemi to extend this security efficiently to other blockchains. Hemi summarised:
It enables developers to build trustless dApps that combine Bitcoin’s security with Ethereum’s programmability. This opens up new possibilities for complex decentralized applications.
How Hemi’s Novel PoP Consensus Protocol Works
Hemi Labs’ consensus mechanism, Proof-of-Proof (PoP), is a novel approach that emerged from field tests by Veriblock before Hemi Labs acquired the company in 2023.
The PoP protocol allows Hemi to “inherit Bitcoin’s robust security while maintaining Ethereum’s flexibility,” something proposed to use “and exceed” Bitcoin’s security.
The PoP consensus mechanism predates BitVM but enables what Garzik calls “superfinality,” securing transactions with minimal delay, achieving full finality within 2 hours or 12 Bitcoin blocks, notably quicker than other optimistic fraud-proof systems.
Hemi miners play a crucial role by publishing network data to the Bitcoin blockchain. Once Bitcoin confirms this data, it inherits the same security level as Bitcoin’s Proof-of-Work (PoW) mechanism, ensuring that Bitcoin’s established security protects Hemi’s transactions.
A key component of Hemi’s infrastructure is the Hemi Virtual Machine (hVM), which is a full Bitcoin node integrated within an Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM).
The hVM tracks Bitcoin’s state in real time, eliminating the need for third-party data relayers and reducing associated risks. This direct connection enhances the security and reliability of Hemi’s operations.
By tackling key security challenges and offering a unique blend of Bitcoin’s security and Ethereum’s flexibility, Hemi aims to establish a more robust and trustworthy decentralized infrastructure.
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