Banking Consortium R3 Leads $9M Round in Encrypted Layer 2 on Ethereum
London, UK, March 15th, 2024, Chainwire
TEN, an encrypted Ethereum Layer 2 network, announces a funding round of $9 million USD, led by digital powerhouse R3. Obscuro Labs’ TEN is an Ethereum Layer 2 roll-up platform addressing critical encryption and scaling issues in blockchain applications. R3, a consortium of 42 of the world’s largest banks exploring blockchain-based RWA tokenization and CBDC, has been a major supporter of TEN from its inception.
Over half of TEN’s senior team hails from R3, which developed the leading tokenization platform Corda, bringing significant experience to the table. In addition to R3, the funding round includes support from notable investors such as Republic Crypto, KuCoin Labs, Big Brain Capital, DWF Labs, and Magnus Capital.
TEN strikes a balance between Optimistic-based L2s and ZK-Rollups, offering speed, security, versatility and privacy not currently available in existing Layer 2 solutions. The platform, currently in testnet, is set to release on the mainnet in October, boasting features like programmable encryption, immediate bridges, and secure random number generation.
TEN distinguishes itself as a general-purpose L2 on Ethereum, aiming to provide efficiency akin to Optimistic-based L2s while maintaining full encryption. The platform addresses encryption, MEV prevention, scalability, and gas efficiency, positioning itself as a unique addition to the Web3 landscape.
In order to maximize safety for its users, the platform takes advantage of the proven security that Ethereum offers, while focusing on adding value with a number of key features like encryption. TEN allows developers to choose which parts of the smart contract they want private and which parts public. This massively opens up the design space, allowing a whole new generation of on-chain games, DeFi, RWA, and institutional use cases to be developed. All this is done while vastly improving scalability.
As an L2, the speed and cost are both very efficient, providing near-immediate finality and making TEN the fastest encrypted network in Web3. The responsiveness is so fast that it behaves like a Web2 application. The platform was designed such that development teams can build their dApps using just Solidity and Ethereum-based tools. Building on TEN is identical to building on Ethereum. For users, adding TEN’s secure functionality takes just three clicks, and users don’t even know they’re using an encrypted dApp. The experience is entirely seamless.
Gavin Thomas, Co-Founder and CEO of Obscuro Labs, Comments: “Layer 2s were always not just about scaling, but enhancing Ethereum with new features in ways that cannot be done on Mainnet. With TEN, we deliver on that promise by bringing everything we learnt from building encryption on Corda to Ethereum.”
TEN, with over 120 partners, leverages the team’s expertise to address key issues in the Ethereum ecosystem. The platform’s name, “TEN,” symbolizes its role as “The Encrypted Network” and its position as a Layer 2 network.
With ongoing testing on Coinlist’s testnet and plans for a mainnet launch in October, TEN is poised to establish itself as a leading Layer 2 in Web3. The platform’s focus on encryption, privacy, and efficiency sets the stage for its role in shaping the future of decentralized technologies.
About TEN
TEN is a pure EVM encrypted L2 solution for Ethereum, positioned between Optimistic and ZK rollups. With a strong team and backing from R3, TEN aims to offer secure, efficient, and decentralized solutions for Web3 applications.
