Bitcoin has yet to fulfill its role in the world of decentralized finance. Despite some significant initiatives, no project has made a long-term impact. However, thanks to an $8.5 million funding round, Portal may offer a viable long-term solution to this problem.
How Portal Wants To Develop Bitcoin-based DeFi
It is commendable to see projects boldly go where others have not gone before. The combination of Bitcoin and decentralized finance sounds excellent on paper, yet there are few solutions in the real world.
Portal can provide a much-needed boost in this segment. The self-hosted Layer 2 wallet and cross-chain DEX on Bitcoin offers many prominent and influential features for users to explore.
Unlocking the true potential of atomic swaps is a first step toward bringing DeFi to Bitcoin. These trustless swaps between BTC and other digital assets introduce many new opportunities. Moreover, Portal does so in a private manner by leveraging Bitcoin's hash time-locked contracts. As a result, users retain control over their funds without worrying about counterparty risk and loss of funds. It is a crucial pillar in this ecosystem.
Through its native Fabric solution - a layer two and layer three technology stack - Portal can provide an open-source solution to bring censorship-resistant layers to Bitcoin. A private and off-chain execution solution for asset issuance, staking, derivatives, liquidity, and other facets introduces the next generation of decentralized finance products and services.
Moreover, the Portal team is confident they can offer the same speed and liquidity as centralized platforms. The big difference is how there is little or no trust required for this DeFi solution. Whether one explores P2P lending, options, or spot markets, everything occurs through peer-to-peer on-chain contracts. There are no third parties involved in the process, and users retain control over their funds at all times.
Portal's $8.5 Million Investment Round
The vision of bringing trustless and private DeFi to the Bitcoin network attracted a lot of investor attention. Portal completed an investment round to the tune of $8.5 million. Prominent investors include COINBASE Ventures, ArringtonXRP Capital, OKEX, DFINITY, Tether (USDT), Reef Finance, Polymath, and others. Such outspoken interest from investors confirms Portal's idea has merit, primarily due to its cross-chain approach.
Portal CEO Eric Martindale adds:
“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. The current centralized exchanges, false "decentralized" DEXs, custodially wrapped tokens, and censorable ecosystems all threaten Bitcoin’s promise of self-sovereignty. Fabric technology enables Layer 3 privacy on cross-chain transactions and eliminates the need for centralized custodians.”
Even though Portal started with a Bitcoin-based peer-to-peer exchange, it serves as the foundation for a much broader DeFi ecosystem. Trustless atomic swaps across different assets and blockchains are a crucial cornerstone of unlocking true decentralized finance. The peer-to-peer technology developed by Satoshi Nakamoto can span various use cases, including communications, social media, and finance.
The funding will help Portal expand its self-sovereign and uncensorable decentralized solution for the Bitcoin ecosystem. Additionally, the team will organize a public token sale on the Republic launchpad at a to-be-announced date in October 2021.
Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.
