Bitcoin 
$102,002-based decentralized cryptocurrency exchange (DEX) Portal has announced receiving a $34 million investment from investors including Coinbase Ventures and OKX Ventures. Portal’s co-founder and CEO Chandra Duggirala told The Block, “You can think of Portal as an interchain Lightning Network.”
DEX’s Total Investment Reaches $42.5 Million
Portal, a venture building a Bitcoin-based interchain decentralized exchange and wallet, has raised $34 million in its latest funding round. Today’s announcement from Portal indicated that the round included investors such as Coinbase Ventures, Arrington Capital, OKX Ventures, and Gate.io Ventures.
In an interview with The Block, Portal’s co-founder and CEO Chandra Duggirala explained that the funding round was structured as a combination of a Simple Agreement for Future Equity (SAFE) and fully converted convertible notes. Duggirala mentioned there was no debt component in the funding round and did not comment on the DEX’s valuation.
Portal’s $34 million funding round is notable for exceeding the typical size for a funding round. Duggirala stated that the round saw higher-than-expected demand due to the growing interest in the Bitcoin ecosystem. The funding round brings Portal’s total investment to $42.5 million, adding to the $8.5 million raised in a pre-funding round in 2021.
What is Portal?
Portal is a Bitcoin-based interchain atomic swap protocol. Its two main products are the DEX and wallet. Portal enables Layer 2 atomic swaps between blockchains. The Portal wallet, a “completely unsupervised” tool, is integrated with the DEX and allows users to send, receive, and store cryptocurrency across blockchains.
While Duggirala describes Portal as “an interchain Lightning Network,” he adds that it is “fast, cheap, easy, and without any custody risk.”
