Bitcoin’s LN Labs Raised $70M, Announced Taro Protocol

Bitcoin’s LN Labs raised $70 million and announced the launch of the Taro protocol that can bring transfers to the lightning network so let’s read more today in our latest Bitcoin news.

The bitcoin-focused company Lightning Labs raised $70 million in a Series B funding round led by Valor Equity Partners but also some funding from Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev, Baillie Gifford, Goldcrest Capital, and others. The funding will help enable stablecoin transactions on the new Taro protocol. The Lightning Network is a layer-two solution for BTC transactions and enables low-fees and instant transactions with bitcoin but without having to use the BTC blockchain verification for every transaction. Lightning Labs builds more features for the network and it already developed a few other products such as the Lightning Pool for liquidity and now it Is adding Taro.

Bitcoin’s Taproot upgrade went live back in November 2021 and made the Taro protocol technically possible. Taro was inspired by the taro root plant and it allows developers to move stable coins from Bitcoin’s network to the Lightning network. The LN Labs CEO Elizabeth Stark believes that Taro will provide bigger Bitcoin adoption and will allow those without bank accounts to send and receive money in the form of stablecoins which are designed to hold their value compared to currencies such as the dollar or Mexican peso:

“There’s this concept of ‘fix money, fix the world,’ and that’s, I think, part of what really attracts me to what we’re doing.”

Bitcoin’s Lightning Network is now being used by the country of El Salvador and the BTC payment company strike, as well as Kraken, are only some to name a few. Now anyone that Is looking to transfer stablecoins will be able to do so via the lightning network. The news came with the possibility of stablecoin regulation looming. President Biden signed a new order asking the US Federal government to investigate crypto and to make reprots on payment systems and last week, the lawmakers introduced a new bill that will require stablecoins to be backed by both US dollars and securities.

Stark said that the stablecoin regulation will not affect the Bitcoin lightning network because it is not issuing stablecoins but only provides a way for them to e exchanged and if regulation comes, Stark noted that issuers will be able to be compliant:

“Stablecoins are not going away. I think they’re only going to increase in adoption.”