Cryptocurrency exchange startup Portal announced it has raised $34 million in seed funding to build out a decentralized, Bitcoin-oriented trading infrastructure. The round saw participation from major crypto investors like Coinbase Ventures, Arrington Capital, OKX Ventures, and Gate.io.
TLDR
- Portal raises $34 million in seed funding from investors like Coinbase Ventures, Arrington Capital, OKX Ventures
- Building a decentralized Bitcoin-based exchange for peer-to-peer, cross-chain crypto asset swaps
- Aims to solve security risks with existing bridges, centralized exchanges, and decentralized exchanges
- Will use funds to develop Portal DEX for trustless swaps and Portal Wallet non-custodial tool
- Upcoming products include AI co-pilot investment app and API for integrating swaps into other apps/wallets
Portal is developing a platform that will allow peer-to-peer swapping of Bitcoin across different blockchains without needing to trust intermediaries. The startup calls it the first "Bitcoin-based exchange" enabling trustless, cross-chain digital asset trades.
The funding comes as the crypto industry continues to deal with risks associated with existing bridge solutions as well as centralized and decentralized exchanges. Portal cites recent hacks of cross-chain bridges that have resulted in over $2.5 billion in stolen funds.
"Bridges, centralized exchanges and other custodial solutions that enable cross-chain exchange have been vulnerable and insecure for as long as they have existed," said Portal CEO Chandra Duggirala. "Portal intends to solve the problem of custodial risk once and for all."
Portal's exchange infrastructure involves staking, swapping, interoperability and execution layers. The end goal is enabling users to trade Bitcoin and other crypto assets across different blockchains in seconds without giving up custody or privacy.
The startup will use the capital raised to develop two main products - Portal DEX and Portal Wallet. Portal DEX will facilitate cross-chain swaps powered by Layer 2 technology, promising better speed, reduced costs, heightened security and transparency compared to existing offerings.
Meanwhile, Portal Wallet will be a non-custodial tool integrating Portal's DEX to send, receive and store crypto assets across multiple blockchains.
Several other upcoming Portal products geared towards professional traders were teased as well, including an AI analytics app and an API platform for integrating its atomic swaps into external apps. The project also aims to form partnerships with other major Bitcoin projects to boost BTC's utility and accessibility.
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