RSK Labs plans to launch smart contracts platform as a sidechain on the bitcoin blockchain, following $1 million investment round.
Blockchain startup, RSK Labs, has announced it secured $1 million in a fundraising round, led by some major blockchain companies. The funds will be used for the development of the smart contracts platform called Rootstock.
The investors in the round included the globe’s biggest bitcoin mining hardware manufacturer, Bitmain Technology, the UK blockchain investment company, Coinsilium, and an investor in the virtual currency sector, Digital Currency Group.
“Our team at DCG feels that Rootstock developing is important for both the technical and business communities building on blockchain technology today, and will enable many new use cases that have not been possible to date,” said Barry Silbert, CEO of the Digital Currency Group.
Set up in 2015, Rootstock will be the first platform allowing developers to create decentralized applications both on Bitcoin blockchain and on the Ethereum blockchain. According to the press release, RSK’s platform will be able to handle up to 100 transactions each second, without sacrificing decentralization and lowering bandwidth usage.
In addition to smart contracts, the company intends to enable near instant payments as well as higher scalability. RSK Labs will add value and functionality to bitcoin, while developing “the most robust and secure” smart contract system in the cryptocurrency ecosystem.
Rootstock will offer a 2-way peg to between bitcoin and RTC, the platform’s native currency. To use the RSK system, users would have to convert bitcoin to RTC by transferring them to the Rootstock sidechain.
RSK Labs is in plans to use the funds to further expand across Latin America, Europe, the US and Asia, whilst ensuring the execution of its roadmap.
“I am very proud that Coinsilium supports the talented Rootstock team to develop a platform enabling smart contracts secured by the Bitcoin blockchain which I see as an essential element in the transition to a world of blockchain-based solutions for enterprises and public organizations,” said CEO of Coinsilium, Eddy Travia.
Speaking on the partnership, Bitmain Technology’s CEO, Wu Jihan, commented: “Rootstock is the most exciting opportunity for me among the startups in the Bitcoin ecosystem. The tidal wave of startups developing smart contract solutions based on RSK will bring countless miracles.”
By the end of April, RSK Labs is going to open a private testnet that will be available to a small group of users, partners and miners. The beta version is planned to be launched in September 2016.
RSK Labs’s Chief Scientist Officer, Sergio Lerner, is a developer of the first Turing-complete digital currency blockchain. Besides, he worked on improving bitcoin security as part of the Bitcoin Core team.
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