Nevertheless, my (highly biased) opinion is that Blockstream is worth paying attention to because unlike the above mentioned projects we are adding new functionality by extending bitcoin itself, thereby decreasing fragmentation and lowering startup costs for new ventures.

Are you going to use some of that 21MM$$ to buy some of the coins currently setup for auction by the US Marshall?

I wish! Nah, only if we had reason to buy that many coins anyway. We got funded to make infrastructure and develop products, not to buy and hold bitcoin (except as operational needs demand).

In all seriousness, one of the problems of this space is that it has been historically difficult for ROI on bitcoin companies to outperform bitcoin itself. We'll see if we're able to buck that trend ;)

They probably didn't need investment. Anyone who contributed to the core probably mined alot in the early days and therefore has a stash of bitcoins.

However being smart they decided to risk someone elses money.

More often than not, it's just about who knows who, back room dealings and favours.

No other group comes close; in fact, I would have said their only possible weakness was that they might have been too nerdy to raise a round. Luckily, I don't know shit about their fundraising skills. This is easily the most bullish news Bitcoin has had in years, in my opinion. Great team, fantastic tech and theoretical track record, and a technology that will build Bitcoin value and usefulness. What's not to like?