In the context of cryptocurrency trading becoming increasingly dependent on centralized exchanges, Portal has emerged as a fully decentralized solution, leveraging the power of Bitcoin and Layer 2, Layer 3 technologies to create an open, secure, and intermediary-free market.
With the BitScaler technology, Portal helps users perform fast, cost-effective, and secure transactions directly from their personal Bitcoin wallets.
The article below will provide an overview of Portal, from its core technology, founding team, major investors, to the potential it holds for the decentralized financial ecosystem on Bitcoin.
What is Portal?
Portal is a decentralized platform that leverages Layer 2 and Layer 3 technologies with atomic swap, creating an open market for data and computation.
The goal of Portal is to replace the traditional centralized web server model with a peer-to-peer, intermediary-free trading system secured by Bitcoin.
One of Portal's breakthrough technologies is BitScaler, a solution that compresses the entire transaction process into a single interface.
Individual Bitcoin wallets can function as Custodian, Broker, and Exchange, allowing users to trade cryptocurrencies without relying on centralized exchanges or third parties.
Differentiating Features of Portal
- Integrated with Lightning Network but not limited like Lightning
- BitScaler expands the capabilities of the Lightning Network by using Channel Factories, allowing the opening of multiple transaction channels with a single on-chain transaction.
- This increases processing speed, reduces transaction costs, and supports more complex transactions.
- Channel Factories technology boosts efficiency by 3 times
- A single blockchain transaction can establish multiple off-chain (Layer-3) channels, helping to scale and significantly reduce transaction fees.
- Intermediary-free transactions with Non-Custodial Delegation
- BitScaler allows users to provide liquidity without entrusting their assets to a third party.
- This enables the creation of AMM (Automated Market Maker) on Bitcoin, similar to Uniswap but fully decentralized, without a coin-holding pool.
- Supports Multichain AMM:
- BitScaler supports asset swaps between Bitcoin and other Layer-1/Layer-2 networks without the need for a third-party intermediary.
- Atomic Swap with MP-HTLCs ensures fair transactions
- This mechanism ensures that a transaction only occurs if both parties fulfill their commitments. If one party fails to perform, the transaction is completely canceled, eliminating the risk of fraud.
- Leveraging the latest Bitcoin technologies – Taproot and Miniscript:
- BitScaler uses Taproot (BIP-341) to optimize transactions and Miniscript to establish complex smart contracts on Bitcoin without increasing the blockchain size.
- Supports DeFi on Bitcoin
- Portal's technology can be extended to applications such as Bitcoin Perpetual Swaps, Decentralized Stablecoins, or lending markets on Bitcoin, without the need to modify the Bitcoin protocol.
Ongoing Updates
Currently, some important information about Portal, including the development roadmap, tokenomics, and exchange listings, is still being updated.
Additionally, the official project website has not yet been released. Interested users can follow the official communication channels to receive the latest updates on the development progress and important announcements in the future.
Team
Chandra Duggirala – Co-founder & CEO
Chandra Duggirala has a medical background, having previously conducted research at Drexel University College of Medicine and Northern Illinois University, focusing on human physiology and protein structure.
He later founded Novobionics, a company developing medical devices for diabetes and obesity treatment. During financial difficulties, he successfully raised a Series A round for the project.
Chandra then became the CEO of Fuel, a personalized nutrition platform using biometric data and AI. After three years, he transitioned to the blockchain industry, becoming the CEO of Portal since 2018.
He aims to build a decentralized financial ecosystem on Bitcoin, empowering users to control their assets without intermediaries.
In addition to Portal, he co-founded FounderPool, a platform that helps startups share equity ownership.
George Burke – Co-founder
George Burke is an entrepreneur and technologist, particularly in the fields of blockchain, cryptocurrencies, and decentralized trading platforms.
He has an educational background in network engineering from the New Jersey Institute of Technology and has participated in 500 Startups, one of the prestigious startup accelerators.
In his career, he has held the roles of CMO and Head of Product at Crypto Street, developing a "meta-exchange" platform for Bitcoin and Altcoin trading.
Prior to that, he co-founded eBookFling, a platform for exchanging e-books, which attracted hundreds of thousands of members.
Since 2018, George Burke has been focused on developing Portal, a decentralized trading platform based on Bitcoin. He is also the driving force behind the Portal Wallet, which aims to make Bitcoin transactions more secure.
Additionally, he has organized the Silicon Valley Bitcoin Meetup, bringing together developers and investors from around the world.
Manoj Duggirala – Co-founder & CTO
Manoj Duggirala graduated in Materials Engineering from the National Institute of Technology Warangal and later obtained a master's degree from Stanford University.
He has conducted research at the IBM Almaden Research Center and Stanford, focusing on advanced sensor-based health monitoring systems.
He then took on the role of Senior Staff Engineer at Invensense, developing motion processors for the Apple iPhone and Fitbit. He then co-founded Context360, specializing in analyzing user behavior using smartphone sensors.
Manoj continued to start up TryFuel.com, a personalized meal service based on genetic data. He then moved into the blockchain space, co-founding Portal to Bitcoin, a decentralized wallet platform that combines Layer 2 and Layer 3 transactions.
He is currently also the CTO of RAFA AI and co-founder of FounderPool, a platform supporting startups in fundraising.
Investors
- 30/01/2024: Portal successfully raised $34 million in a Seed round, led by Coinbase Ventures, with participation from OKX Ventures, Arrington XRP Capital, and gate.io.
- 22/09/2021: Previously, the project had raised $8.5 million in a private round, with investors including Coinbase Ventures, OKX Ventures, Arrington XRP Capital, Shima Capital, Genblock Capital, and Republic, among others.
Project Information Channels
- Website: https://portaltobitcoin.com/
- Twitter: https://x.com/PortaltoBitcoin
Conclusion
Portal provides a decentralized trading solution on Bitcoin, eliminating the need to use centralized exchanges.
With BitScaler, users can trade, provide liquidity, and use DeFi products directly from their personal Bitcoin wallets.
This technology has the potential to reshape the cryptocurrency market, transforming Bitcoin from a store of value asset into a platform for decentralized financial applications.
Portal is ushering in a new era for cryptocurrency trading on Bitcoin, offering a truly decentralized, secure, and intermediary-free platform.
