Ark is one step closer to turning its Bitcoin scalability proposal into reality. After a year of research focused on improving the reference implementation, Ark Labs today announced the completion of a $2.5 million seed funding round led by Tim Draper and his firm Draper Associates. While the technical feasibility of Ark’s approach was initially debated, today’s announcement represents a strong show of confidence in the future of the protocol and the developers behind it.
Speaking to Bitcoin Magazine, Ark Labs co-founder Marco Argentieri expressed his excitement about the road ahead, noting that Ark is ready to provide a major boost to its current expansion efforts.
“This funding will accelerate our efforts to make Bitcoin transactions as simple and easy to use as possible, making fast, easy-to-use, low-cost Bitcoin-backed transactions a reality for billions of people around the world.”
Argentieri stressed that his company’s immediate focus is on supporting the adoption of Bitcoin’s popular layer 2 solution, which was initially designed as an alternative to the Lightning Network.
“Lightning has made tremendous progress recently,” he said. “We believe we can leverage this network effect to bring Ark to market and enhance the self-custody experience for existing Lightning users.”
Ark addresses these challenges by leveraging untrusted servers, allowing Lightning users to mitigate the difficulties they typically face when running Lightning infrastructure. The recent trend in reducing on-chain operational costs related to liquidity management has been to rely on custodial or federated options such as the Liquid sidechain.
“Unfortunately, this approach introduces custodial trade-offs that are at odds with the original vision of Bitcoin. Ark has the potential to overcome these challenges at scale without compromising trust,” says Argentieri.
When asked about his motivations behind the investment, lead investor Tim Draper echoed the sentiment:
“Soon, many people around the world will be living on the Bitcoin standard. Today, we need to focus not only on how to buy and store Bitcoin, but how to use it as a medium of exchange for everyday purposes. Ark’s architecture allows Bitcoin payments to be made seamlessly, in a way that remains true to its core principles of decentralization and self-custody.”
One of the early challenges Ark Labs faced was transforming the Ark protocol from a raw concept into a fully realized solution. According to Argentieri, the initial documentation and parameters proposed by its creator were not fully complete and sometimes hindered a broader understanding of the technology.
“Many of the concepts lack full development, and the arbitrary numbers discussed fail to capture the flexibility of the protocol, especially in addressing liquidity issues,” he explained.
Perhaps the most glaring confusion has been around the need for covenants. Bitcoin covenants are restrictions on smart contracts that limit how and where future transactions can be spent, enhancing security and control over funds. While covenants can greatly enhance the user experience around Ark as well as improve capital efficiency, Argentieri insists that a wide range of use cases could actually benefit from a “covenant-free” version:
“A variety of users can benefit from Ark’s features. While mobile clients are currently more of a challenge, the use of pre-signed transactions is a viable alternative to online server contracts.”
He also believes his company is well-positioned to deliver the first production service that can validate the technology’s potential. “When Ark starts operating with actual capital deployed and large numbers of users leveraging the infrastructure, that should help make a strong case for the covenants.”
The team recently released The alpha version of the zero-covenant implementation is now available on GitHub. Coming soon, Ark Node, an Ark-powered wallet, will be launched, allowing users to send, receive, and exchange Bitcoin over the Lightning Network, all within an easy-to-use dashboard. Interested users should sign up at Website The closed beta testing updates are scheduled to begin in early September, with a wider rollout expected later this year.
The round was joined by Bitcoin-focused funds Axiom and Fulgur Ventures, along with prominent angel investor Stephen Cole. Allen Farrington, general partner at Axiom, shared his enthusiasm for the project: “We are excited to support what looks to be a significant advance in expanding Bitcoin’s utility as a means of payment and further developing the network’s financial infrastructure.”
Ark Labs is calling on developers, top talent, and potential partners to contribute to its efforts.
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