TL;DR
- Velar, a Bitcoin DeFi platform, has raised $3.5 million in a seed funding round to develop the world’s first perpetual decentralized exchange (PerpDEX) on Bitcoin.
- The company is preparing for the Dharma mainnet launch and plans to expedite its PerpDEX, Velar Artha, with the new capital.
- This development marks a significant milestone in the evolution of Bitcoin’s DeFi landscape, bringing it one step closer to realizing its full potential.
Velar, a Bitcoin DeFi platform, has successfully raised $3.5 million in a seed funding round. The funding round saw participation from a diverse group of prominent Web3 investors, including Bitcoin Startup Lab, CMS Holdings, Black Edge Capital, GBV, Cypher Capital, Trust Machines SPV, Transform Capital, Maple Block, and Samara Asset Group.
Velar raises $3.5M to build the world's first PerpDEX on Bitcoin.
Let’s paint the world orange! 🟧https://t.co/eruR8rDrIZ
— Velar (@VelarBTC) February 1, 2024
The funds will be used to develop the world’s first perpetual decentralized exchange (PerpDEX) on Bitcoin. This action is a strategic initiative by Velar to leverage the dormant liquidity of Bitcoin, which is estimated to be around $800 billion.
The aim is to provide Bitcoin holders with the same benefits and returns that have proven to be effective within the Ethereum ecosystem. This is part of Velar’s ongoing commitment to expanding and enhancing the value proposition for its users.
Velar’s CEO, Mithil Thakore, expressed his excitement about the funding round, stating, “Velar’s successful funding round is a validation of our mission to make Proof-of-Work and Bitcoin the base layer of DeFi. Velar is set to redefine what’s possible, facilitating $800 billion worth of dormant liquidity to be used in DeFi, and we’re excited to invite the world to be a part of this groundbreaking journey.”
Velar’s Strategy to Leverage Stacks and Other Layer 2 Solutions to Provide Scalability and Interoperability
The company is preparing for the Dharma mainnet launch and plans to expedite its PerpDEX, Velar Artha, with the new capital. The platform, set to launch in Q2 2024, will utilize Stacks to provide DeFi decentralized applications (dApps) liquidity on Bitcoin. Despite its initial launch on Stacks, Velar is not exclusive to any particular Layer 2 (L2) solution.
It can integrate with various prominent Bitcoin Layer 2 platforms, demonstrating its agnostic approach towards Layer 2 solutions. This is part of Velar’s strategy to remain flexible and adaptable in the evolving cryptocurrency landscape.
Muneeb Ali, Co-Creator of Stacks, added, “DeFi is the logical next step for Bitcoin. Introducing perps for Bitcoin and other assets that can be swapped decentralized and earning rewards will help unlock the $500 billion in untapped value on Bitcoin. This fundraising helps the team at Velar build a liquidity protocol that will be a major gateway for the usability being unlocked by sBTC on Bitcoin L2.”
This development marks a significant milestone in the evolution of Bitcoin’s DeFi landscape, bringing it one step closer to realizing its full potential.
