A Bitcoin-based decentralized exchange (DEX) is coming—and its architects are wishing in order to save users in the untidy and hack-prone realm of bridges.
Portal, a Bay Area-based startup, just elevated $34 million inside a seed funding round from the kind of Coinbase Ventures, OKX Ventures, and Arrington Capital to aid the introduction of the merchandise.
The DEX enables anybody to swap Bitcoin (BTC) for other cryptocurrencies—quickly, cheaply, and with no middleman.
A DEX, or digital asset exchange, enables users to trade tokens directly. Unlike major crypto exchanges like Binance, anybody can execute trades on the DEX since the platforms don’t request customer information like name, address, or ID from traders—information needed by most know-your-customer (KYC) financial rules.
The concept behind Portal, Chief executive officer Chandra Duggirala told Decrypt, is perfect for the peer-to-peer (P2P) platform to assist users make quick swaps with BTC with other chains, achieve this as cheaply, as rapidly because the Lightning Network—and with little risk.
Exactly why is there a lot risk today? Because individuals within the decentralized finance (DeFi) sphere typically swap cryptocurrencies via mix-chain bridges. Bridge protocols—which allow users to transfer assets in one blockchain to another—are vulnerable to hacks. Actually, previously 18 several weeks, $2.8 billion is lost in mix-chain custodial solutions, Duggirala told Decrypt.
Portal states it’ll solve this with “secure and transparent Layer 2 atomic swap technology.” Atomic swaps make reference to mix-chain swapping technology operated by cryptography and smart contracts.
Portal may also make use of the funding to build up a non-custodial mobile wallet that integrates the primary DEX and enables users to transmit, receive, and store assets across blockchains via their smartphone.
“Portal is pioneering what DeFi on Bitcoin appears like, and we’re happy to be supporting this team that is constantly on the deliver,” Michael Arrington, founder and partner of Arrington Capital, stated inside a prepared statement.
Edited by Ryan Ozawa.
