Elastos secures $20 million investment to expand Bitcoin DeFi ecosystem

Decentralized infrastructure provider Elastos has raised $20 million from Rollman Management to expand its Bitcoin-based decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem and Web3 marketplace.

The funding will support the ELA token, BeL2 — a new Bitcoin DeFi protocol — and Elacity, a digital content marketplace for creators.

Elastos is a blockchain network that has been working with Bitcoin since 2018 through merge-mining. This means Bitcoin miners help secure Elastos while earning rewards.

Now, the network is preparing to launch BeL2, a system that will let Bitcoin holders borrow, lend, and swap without needing traditional banks or exchanges. This works by locking Bitcoin in smart contracts and using cryptographic tools like zero-knowledge proofs and oracles to ensure transactions are secure.

Users keep control of their Bitcoin, reducing risks, as per the announcement. Elastos’ tokenholders (ELA) can also earn Bitcoin rewards by helping run the system.

Expanding creator economy

Elacity is expanding its creator economy by allowing artists and content creators to sell digital assets directly without intermediaries.

In a test conducted by the platform, one creator earned $5,600 in a single day. The marketplace will add subscriptions and AI-powered content tokenization, enabling creators to manage and sell their work in Web3-based digital storefronts.

“Leveraging Bitcoin’s trillion-dollar consensus to empower Web3 users with scalable utilities—that’s where Elastos comes in,” said Rong Chen, Elastos Founder.

Elastos is governed by the Cyber Republic Consensus (CRC), a community-driven model where ELA tokenholders vote on network changes.