Paul Johnson Portal to Bitcoin secures $25 million to launch its atomic OTC desk, enabling trustless crosschain trades through Bitcoin-native interoperability and HTLC infrastructure.
Portal to Bitcoin secures $25 million to expand atomic OTC innovation
Portal to Bitcoin has raised $25 million in fresh capital while unveiling its much-anticipated atomic OTC desk, marking a significant step toward transforming large-scale crosschain settlements. The Bitcoin-native interoperability firm aims to establish Bitcoin as the ultimate settlement layer for global assets, without reliance on intermediaries or wrapped tokens.
The latest funding round was led by digital asset lender JTSA Global, with continued support from Coinbase Ventures, OKX Ventures, and Arrington Capital. This milestone positions Portal to Bitcoin as one of the leading projects advancing trustless crosschain infrastructure in an era where institutional traders are increasingly seeking native Bitcoin settlement solutions.
Portal to Bitcoin has developed its OTC platform using Hashed Timelock Contracts (HTLCs) and Bitcoin Taproot capabilities to enable instant settlement of large trades between native assets across multiple blockchains. The innovation reflects the firm’s vision to eliminate custodial risk and bridge vulnerabilities that have long plagued crosschain trading.
A Bitcoin-native approach to crosschain liquidity
The launch of Portal to Bitcoin’s atomic OTC desk brings a new layer of interoperability to institutional traders and high-value crypto participants. Unlike traditional centralized OTC desks that depend on intermediaries, Portal to Bitcoin uses HTLC-based atomic swaps, allowing users to trade native Bitcoin against other blockchain assets directly.
Founder and CEO Chandra Duggirala emphasized that the platform delivers true decentralization in crosschain settlement, relying entirely on native assets without custodians or synthetic tokens. “Portal to Bitcoin provides the infrastructure to make Bitcoin the trustless settlement layer for global markets,” Duggirala noted.
The company’s proprietary BitScaler technology functions as a layer 3 solution built on top of Bitcoin, resembling Lightning Network’s architecture but optimized for institutional-grade trading. BitScaler opens dedicated channels using Taproot and policy templates, forming a hub-and-spoke model where liquidity providers act as the spokes and validator federations as the hub. Each trade within these channels is secured through HTLCs, ensuring that both parties either complete the exchange or recover their assets safely.
This design removes the dependency on wrapped assets or bridge protocols, offering market participants a higher degree of security and asset integrity during crosschain execution.
Standing apart from other atomic swap systems
While the concept of atomic swaps is not new, Portal to Bitcoin’s approach differs fundamentally from other decentralized liquidity networks like THORChain and Chainflip. These systems rely on vaults controlled by validators to hold user funds, introducing potential custodial risks.
Portal to Bitcoin, on the other hand, executes trades entirely on a non-custodial basis, where users never relinquish control of their native assets until the swap is complete. Competing HTLC-based solutions such as Liquality and Boltz share similar mechanics but remain limited to one-swap-at-a-time tools, whereas Portal to Bitcoin extends the functionality into a full liquidity layer with pooled resources and decentralized finance integration.
By integrating these layers, Portal to Bitcoin aims to create a scalable ecosystem where Bitcoin serves as the primary settlement rail for all crosschain financial interactions, from OTC trades to broader decentralized liquidity operations.
Validator security and system governance
Portal to Bitcoin’s backend infrastructure, known as PortalOS, incorporates a Notary Chain powered by the Ethereum Virtual Machine on Cosmos (EVMOS). Validators within this network, called Portal Guardians, are responsible for trade matching, maintaining liquidity pool data, and ensuring state integrity across blockchains.
The system initially operates with a limited validator set for software management stability, though it is designed for open participation through staking auctions as the network matures. Importantly, validators do not control vaults or have custody over user assets. Their function centers around facilitating peer-to-peer matching and verifying crosschain transactions.
Although validators can influence pricing mechanisms and liquidity management, they cannot seize user funds. The company plans to evolve its protocol beyond the current order book model by introducing an automated market maker (AMM) framework once liquidity deepens.
This governance model ensures resilience against validator misconduct while maintaining transparency and operational efficiency.
The broader implications for Bitcoin interoperability
The $25 million raise underscores growing institutional confidence in Bitcoin-based interoperability. As markets increasingly prioritize security and decentralization, Portal to Bitcoin’s atomic OTC infrastructure could become a cornerstone for large-scale, trustless liquidity movement.
The project’s focus on native Bitcoin interoperability represents a critical evolution for decentralized trading, allowing financial institutions, market makers, and whales to conduct massive settlements without custodial exposure.
By anchoring its design in HTLC technology and Taproot-enabled smart contracts, Portal to Bitcoin is redefining what institutional-grade crosschain settlement can look like. The firm’s atomic OTC desk reflects a future where Bitcoin’s role as the global settlement asset extends far beyond simple store-of-value use cases ushering in a new era of trustless, high-volume crosschain trading.
Disclaimer: Parts of this article were generated with the assistance from AI tools and reviewed by our editorial team to ensure accuracy and adherence to our standards.
