A San Francisco-based fintech startup called Portal has secured million in seed funding to develop a decentralized Bitcoin exchange ecosystem that promises to eliminate the custodial risks that have plagued the cryptocurrency industry for years. The funding round, announced on January 30, 2024, represents one of the largest seed investments in Bitcoin infrastructure and signals growing institutional confidence in decentralized trading solutions.
Portal’s vision centers on enabling peer-to-peer, cross-chain atomic swaps that allow users to trade cryptocurrencies across different blockchains without relying on third-party intermediaries such as centralized exchanges, bridges, or wrapped token protocols. The approach addresses what CEO and cofounder Chandra Duggirala describes as the fundamental problem in crypto: custodial risk.
TL;DR
- Portal raised M in seed funding from Coinbase Ventures, Arrington Capital, OKX Ventures, and Gate.io
- The startup is building a decentralized Bitcoin exchange using layer-2 atomic swap technology
- Portal’s DEX enables trustless cross-chain swaps without centralized intermediaries or bridges
- Cross-chain bridges have been responsible for billions in hacks, including the M Ronin exploit
- The company previously raised .5M in an angel round in 2021
The Problem: Bridges and Centralized Custody
The cryptocurrency industry has lost billions of dollars to hacks and exploits targeting centralized intermediaries. From the infamous Mt. Gox collapse to the FTX implosion, centralized exchanges have repeatedly proven to be points of failure. More recently, cross-chain bridges — the protocols that enable token transfers between different blockchains — have emerged as prime targets for malicious actors.
In 2022, a single cross-chain exploit drained approximately million from the Ronin Network, the blockchain powering the popular Axie Infinity game. The incident was one of the largest decentralized finance hacks in history and underscored the vulnerability of bridge-based cross-chain solutions. In early 2024, Orbit Chain lost million in another cross-chain bridge exploit.
“Custodial bridges have been the single-biggest problem in crypto, and it becomes particularly important when it comes to cross-chain operations because different blockchains are completely disparate things,” Duggirala explained. The challenge lies in securely connecting two fundamentally independent blockchain systems without introducing a trusted intermediary that becomes a honeypot for attackers.
Portal’s Solution: Layer-2 Atomic Swaps
Portal’s approach leverages layer-2 atomic swap technology, a method that allows cryptocurrencies to be exchanged peer-to-peer without requiring a trusted third party. Atomic swaps are self-executing smart contracts where the transaction either completes entirely or not at all — there is no scenario where one party receives funds while the other does not.
Layer-2 protocols operate on top of base-layer blockchains like Bitcoin or Ethereum to improve scalability and reduce transaction costs. By combining layer-2 architecture with atomic swap functionality, Portal aims to create a system where users can swap assets across chains with the security guarantees of the underlying blockchain, rather than trusting a centralized custodian or bridge operator.
“It hasn’t been done before; as far as we know, this is the first of its kind,” Duggirala claimed, emphasizing the novelty of the approach. Bitcoin was trading at approximately ,952 and Ethereum at ,344 on January 30, 2024, according to CoinMarketCap data, reflecting a market environment where infrastructure investment continues to flow despite ongoing volatility.
Flagship Products: Portal DEX and Portal Wallet
Portal plans to use the million in seed funding to accelerate development of two core products. The first is Portal DEX, described as the first Bitcoin-based decentralized exchange that enables swaps of cryptocurrencies across different blockchains. Unlike existing decentralized exchanges that typically operate within a single blockchain ecosystem, Portal DEX is designed to facilitate true cross-chain transactions.
The second product is Portal Wallet, a non-custodial wallet that integrates directly with the Portal DEX. The wallet serves as the primary user-facing tool, allowing individuals to manage their assets and execute cross-chain swaps from a single interface. Duggirala described the portable mobile wallet as a standard for the user experience, while expressing the company’s desire for third-party wallets to integrate the swap functionality as widely as possible.
Investor Confidence and Strategic Backing
The seed round drew participation from several prominent cryptocurrency and fintech investors, including Coinbase Ventures, the investment arm of the largest U.S. cryptocurrency exchange. Arrington Capital, founded by TechCrunch creator Michael Arrington, also participated. Arrington praised Portal’s approach, stating that the company is “rapidly pushing ahead the Bitcoin ecosystem by enabling fast and low-cost economic activity without being beholden to third parties.”
Additional investors include OKX Ventures and Gate.io, bringing together backing from multiple major exchange ecosystems. The million seed round builds on Portal’s earlier angel round of .5 million, which closed in 2021, bringing the company’s total known funding to approximately .5 million.
Founded in 2019, Portal has spent several years developing its technology stack. The decision to focus specifically on Bitcoin as the foundation for cross-chain swaps is significant, as Bitcoin’s scripting limitations have historically made complex decentralized applications more challenging to build on its network compared to more programmable blockchains like Ethereum.
Why This Matters
Portal’s million raise highlights a growing recognition that the cryptocurrency industry’s reliance on centralized intermediaries and vulnerable bridge protocols represents an existential risk to the ecosystem’s long-term viability. If Portal’s layer-2 atomic swap technology works as promised, it could fundamentally change how assets move between blockchains — eliminating the single points of failure that have resulted in billions of dollars in losses. For Bitcoin specifically, the development signals that the network’s ecosystem is maturing beyond simple store-of-value narratives toward more sophisticated decentralized financial infrastructure, potentially unlocking new utility for the world’s largest cryptocurrency.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial or investment advice. Readers should conduct their own research before making any investment decisions.
cross chain atomic swaps without bridges or wrapped tokens is the dream. every bridge hack in the last 2 years proves we need this
atomic_swap_bro every bridge hack proves it but bridges keep getting built because the UX of atomic swaps is still terrible. Portal needs to solve the UX problem not just the trust problem
Coinbase Ventures, Arrington, OKX, and Gate.io all in on a seed round for a BTC DEX. the smart money sees the bridge problem clearly
Chandra Duggirala is right that custodial risk is the fundamental problem. FTX, Celsius, BlockFi all proved it
Stefan M. that seed round lineup is basically a who is who of crypto VC. when that many smart money names pile into BTC infrastructure you pay attention