PANews reported on December 4th that Portal to Bitcoin, a Bitcoin-native interoperability protocol, announced the completion of a $25 million funding round. The round was led by JTSA Global, with participation from Coinbase Ventures, OKX Ventures, Arrington Capital, and other institutions. Alongside this new funding, the company launched an atomic over-the-counter trading platform, promising "instant, trustless cross-chain settlement for large transactions."
This protocol focuses on providing institutions and large investors with a Bitcoin-pegged cross-chain over-the-counter market. It utilizes Hash Time Locked Contracts (HTLCs) across multiple chains and Bitcoin Taproot contracts to enable the exchange of native Bitcoin with native assets on the integrated blockchain in a non-custodial manner, while emphasizing the reduction of trust assumptions in transactions.

Lawmakers in the US House of Representatives and Senate met with cryptocurrency industry leaders in three separate roundtable events this week. Members of the US Congress met with key figures in the cryptocurrency industry to discuss issues and potential laws related to the establishment of a strategic Bitcoin reserve and a market structure.On Tuesday, a group of lawmakers that included Alaska Representative Nick Begich and Ohio Senator Bernie Moreno met with Strategy co-founder Michael Saylor and others in a roundtable event regarding the BITCOIN Act, a bill to establish a strategic Bitcoin (BTC) reserve. The discussion was hosted by the advocacy organization Digital Chamber and its affiliates, the Digital Power Network and Bitcoin Treasury Council.“Legislators and the executives at yesterday’s roundtable agree, there is a need [for] a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve law to ensure its longevity for America’s financial future,” Hailey Miller, director of government affairs and public policy at Digital Power Network, told Cointelegraph. “Most attendees are looking for next steps, which may mean including the SBR within the broader policy frameworks already advancing.“Read more

