In Brief:
- Portal raised an $8.5 million funding round to build DeFi on Bitcoin.
- Coinbase Ventures participated in the funding round.
Portal, a cross-chain decentralized exchange, announced that it has raised an $8.5 million funding round to generate DeFi ecosystem on the Bitcoin blockchain.
According to the announcement, the funding round saw participation from Coinbase Ventures, ArringtonXRP Capital, OKEx, Republic. co, Shima Ventures, LD Capital, DFINITY, and others.
“Decentralized cross-chain bridging is one of the hardest problems in crypto right now, especially as multiple blockchains gain real traction,” said Michael Arrington, founder of Arrington XRP and TechCrunch. We’re excited to see Portal’s Bitcoin-native approach to multichain transfers go live and provide an alternative bringing mechanism to the growing number of active on-chain users.”
Republic Capital’s Brain Johnson also said that “Interoperability is a necessity for blockchain to bridge into the mainstream finance world.” As such, his company’s investment in Portal was “with this future in mind.”
Portal furnishes its users with the speed and liquidity of centralized platforms using the security of Bitcoin as an anchor. Fabric is a Layer 2 and Layer 3 technology that runs Portal. It works as an open-source toolbox for establishing anti-censorship layers on the Bitcoin base layer. It allows the personal execution of smart contracts for asset issuance, P2P swaps, staking, liquidity derivatives, and more.
“By Bringing a fast peer-to-peer, Layer 2 exchange with the speed of centralized exchanges but with privacy – Portal is delivering on the promise of self-sovereignty for everyone,” said Portal CEO Eric Martindale. “Fabric technology enables Layer 3 privacy on cross-chain transactions and eliminates the need for centralized custodians.”
The platform uses bitcoin “hash time-locked contracts” to ensure that users retain full control over the funds. In October, Portal will inaugurate its first public token sale on Republic.co Launchpad.
