Portal to Bitcoin Raises $25M to Launch Trustless Cross-Chain OTC Desk

TLDR:

• Portal to Bitcoin secures $25M for a trustless Bitcoin OTC desk.
• $25M funding fuels Portal to Bitcoin’s cross-chain trading vision.
• New OTC desk by Portal to Bitcoin offers trustless Bitcoin trades.
• Portal to Bitcoin leverages $25M to enhance cross-chain Bitcoin settlement.
• Bitcoin-centered cross-chain swaps are coming with Portal to Bitcoin’s new desk.

Portal to Bitcoin has secured $25 million in funding to launch its atomic over-the-counter (OTC) trading desk. The funding round was led by JTSA Global, with additional participation from Coinbase Ventures, OKX Ventures, and Arrington Capital. The capital will enable the company to roll out a new platform focused on enabling trustless cross-chain settlement for large-scale trades using Bitcoin.

A Focus on Bitcoin-Centered Cross-Chain Trading

Portal to Bitcoin introduces an innovative approach to cross-chain transactions, emphasizing Bitcoin as the core settlement layer. Unlike other solutions that rely on wrapped assets or custodians, Portal to Bitcoin uses native Bitcoin for transactions. This approach ensures that users can trade assets on integrated blockchains securely without the need for intermediaries or bridges.

The company utilizes Hashed Timelock Contracts (HTLCs) and Bitcoin’s Taproot contracts to facilitate these trustless exchanges. These technologies enable the instantaneous and secure exchange of assets between different chains. With the introduction of the OTC desk, Portal to Bitcoin targets institutions and large traders looking for a seamless, non-custodial trading experience.

Portal to Bitcoin’s architecture enables users to swap native Bitcoin for assets on other chains in a decentralized way. This system minimizes trust assumptions, making it a safer option for high-volume traders. Unlike other systems that rely on centralized vaults or validators, Portal to Bitcoin’s model prioritizes security and decentralization.

Portal to Bitcoin’s Technology and Market Position

The technology behind Portal to Bitcoin includes its BitScaler, a layer-3 solution resembling the Lightning Network. BitScaler uses Bitcoin’s Taproot and policy templates to create a hub-and-spoke structure. This structure connects liquidity providers with the network’s validator federation, ensuring that trades are secured using HTLCs.

The company aims to create a liquidity layer and decentralized finance (DeFi) stack over Bitcoin, with pooled liquidity for cross-chain swaps. While other platforms offer atomic swaps, they often lack the full liquidity ecosystem that Portal to Bitcoin plans to build. This gives Portal to Bitcoin a significant edge in the cross-chain Bitcoin ecosystem.

Portal to Bitcoin’s notary chain, built on Ethereum’s EVMOS, ensures the protocol’s security. The notary chain helps validate trade matching, pricing, and liquidity pool accounting. With 42 validator slots, the protocol aims for permissionless selection in the future, though the current setup uses trusted validators to manage the node software.

Enhancing the Security and Decentralization of Bitcoin Trading

Portal to Bitcoin’s system stands out due to its emphasis on security and decentralization. Validators in the system play a crucial role in maintaining the integrity of trades but do not control any liquidity pools or vaults. This ensures that user assets are not at risk, even if a validator is compromised.

The use of HTLCs guarantees that funds are either exchanged or refunded, reducing the chances of fraud or system failures. This feature sets Portal to Bitcoin apart from other cross-chain platforms that rely on custodial vaults or wrapped assets. The company aims to provide a more secure and decentralized method for large-scale Bitcoin trades.

As Portal to Bitcoin continues to grow, it seeks to establish itself as a major player in the cross-chain Bitcoin market. The new OTC desk represents a key step in expanding its offerings and ensuring that Bitcoin remains a dominant settlement layer in the global asset markets.

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