PortalToBitcoin

Portal to Bitcoin is a custody-less interoperability protocol that lets users trade native Bitcoin across multiple blockchains without relying on bridges, wrapped tokens, or centralized custodians. Traditional cross-chain solutions require users to trust third parties through custodial bridges or wrapped tokens. Portal enables direct peer-to-peer swaps where you retain control of your keys throughout the transaction. Think of it as a switching network where your Bitcoin travels natively, not as a substitute asset managed by someone else.

The project was founded as Portal DeFi before officially rebranding to Portal to Bitcoin in June 2024, a change that reflected its expanded mission to serve as the premier access point for the global crypto community to engage with Bitcoin. The company was founded in San Francisco in 2019 by Chandra Duggirala, George Burke, and Manoj Duggirala. Chandra Duggirala, serving as CEO, framed the rebrand as a shift into what he called the custody-less era, positioning Portal to Bitcoin as the successor to centralized exchange dominance and bridge-based cross-chain transfers.

The engine behind Portal to Bitcoin is a proprietary technology called BitScaler. BitScaler integrates customized channel factories, Taproot technology, and a sophisticated policy scripting language to scale Bitcoin transactions for DeFi and broader blockchain applications. It includes modified channel factories, non-custodial signing delegation, and other innovations that eliminate the need for trusted intermediaries like bridges, vaults, or multi-signature solutions in cross-chain operations while keeping fees low and transactions fast. Critically, none of this requires new Bitcoin op codes, so the protocol works within Bitcoin’s existing design.

The practical products built on top of BitScaler include the Portal DEX, a bridgeless liquidity hub for Bitcoin-layer assets, and the Portal Wallet, a multicurrency reference wallet with built-in cross-chain DEX functionality that supports Runes, Ordinals, and more. The platform also features RAFA AI agents, which provide intelligent suggestions for trades, portfolio management, and market opportunities, making complex DeFi strategies accessible to a wider audience. Portal to Bitcoin also launched an atomic over-the-counter trading platform targeting institutions and large investors, promising instant and trustless cross-chain settlement for large transactions.

The core use case Portal to Bitcoin is solving is activating dormant Bitcoin capital. Over $500 billion in Bitcoin has not moved in more than a year, largely because holders are unwilling to risk bridges, wrapped coins, or giving up self-custody to participate in DeFi. Portal to Bitcoin’s architecture removes that barrier entirely. By allowing native BTC to be used across chains like Ethereum and Solana without relinquishing control, Portal aligns with Bitcoin’s foundational ethos of self-custody and security.

Portal to Bitcoin’s funding history stretches back to 2021, when it closed an angel round of $8.5 million backed by Coinbase Ventures, Arrington Capital, OKX Ventures, Gate.io, Shima Ventures, Republic Capital, and many crypto industry founders and executives. In January 2024, Portal raised $34 million in seed funding from the same core investors to build the Portal DEX and its non-custodial wallet. In December 2025, Portal to Bitcoin raised an additional $25 million led by JTSA Global, with continued participation from Coinbase Ventures, OKX Ventures, and Arrington Capital. A $50 million Series A followed in August 2025, bringing total funding to $92.5 million across three rounds.

Coinbase Ventures, Arrington Capital, OKX Ventures, and Gate.io have been consistent backers across multiple rounds, signaling sustained conviction from some of the most influential capital allocators in the crypto industry. Michael Arrington, founder and partner of Arrington Capital, described Portal as rapidly pushing ahead the Bitcoin ecosystem by enabling fast and low-cost economic activity without reliance on third parties.

The native token of the Portal to Bitcoin ecosystem is PTB. PTB’s total supply is capped at 8.4 billion tokens, vested over 10 years and allocated across validators, the foundation, ecosystem development, liquidity provisions, and community rewards. PTB serves as gas for the Notary Chain, the coordination layer that verifies and secures cross-chain activity across the protocol. Validators must competitively stake PTB to maintain their position in the network, creating persistent natural demand for the token.

On the supply side, every swap executed on the Portal DEX incurs a 0.3% protocol fee, and 100% of that fee is used to buy PTB on the open market and burn it permanently. The objective is for the network to burn more tokens than it emits as activity grows, creating a self-sustaining deflationary model that is not reliant on speculative buying. PTB also carries governance rights, giving holders a direct voice in the protocol’s future direction.

PTB tokens are accessible on centralized cryptocurrency exchanges for standard spot trading. However, if you want to transact in large token amounts, or if you are looking to buy locked tokens or SAFT notes, the Acquire.Fi OTC and Secondaries Marketplace is the right venue for that.

If you want to buy PortalToBitcoin tokens OTC, you can go to Acquire.Fi and either engage with existing buy listings already posted in the marketplace, or you can submit a new Buy listing with your preferred valuation and token amount. If you want to sell PortalToBitcoin tokens OTC and exit an existing position, you can do the same in reverse: engage with active listings or post a new Sell listing at terms that work for you.

Once you submit your listing, Acquire.Fi handles the process from there. The team conducts background checks, sends NDAs, and then introduces counterparties to each other. Buyer and seller are each responsible for their own due diligence and payment settlement. Acquire.Fi is not a broker-dealer, but the team actively assists both sides to help get the deal across the finish line.