Cross-chain DEX Portal takes Bitcoin-based DeFi mainstream after successful $8.5M funding round

Cross-chain DEX and self-hosted Layer 2 wallet Portal, which ensures quick, private, and secure atomic swaps between Bitcoin (BTC/USD) and other digital assets, closed an $8.5 million funding round to build a non-censorable, self-sovereign DeFi on Bitcoin. The announcement precedes their public token sale on Republic.co launchpad next month.

Funding round was led by Coinbase

The Coinbase Ventures-led funding round saw participation from Republic.co, Shima Ventures, LD Capital, ArringtonXRP Capital, OKEx, Monday Capital, GenBlock, Taureon, B21 Capital, Autonomy Capital, Krypital, the founders and senior executives of Ethereum (ETH/USD), DFINITY, Galaxy Digital, Bitcoin.com, MobileCoin, Republic, Hedera Hashgraph, Centre.io, Polymath, 4K, and more.

Portal CEO Eric Martindale said,

Brain Johnson of Republic Capital said:

Combining trust minimization with liquidity and speed

Portal combines the trust minimization guarantees of Bitcoin and the liquidity and speed of centralized platforms. The DEX decentralizes finance using options, spot markets, and p2p lending and borrowing through peer to peer, on-chain contracts without any third party control or custody.

Michael Arrington, founder of ArringtonXRP and TechCrunch, said:

Cutting edge Fabric technology at core

Fabric, the Layer 2 and Layer 3 technology at the core of Portal, is an open-source toolbox for layering censorship resistance on top of the Bitcoin base. Fabric makes it possible to execute smart contracts for liquidity, P2P swaps, asset issuance, staking, and more privately and off-chain. Portal uses Bitcoin’s “hash time-locked contracts” to prevent fund loss and counterparty risk.