Velar secures $3.5M funding to develop Bitcoin’s first perp DEX

Velar, a Bitcoin-based decentralized finance (DeFi) platform, has successfully secured $3.5 million in seed funding from a consortium of Web3 investors, such as Bitcoin Startup Lab, CMS Holdings, Black Edge Capital, and Maple Block. The investment will be channeled towards developing Velar’s flagship project, a perpetual decentralized exchange (perp DEX) named Velar Artha, with its launch anticipated for this year’s Q2.

Velar Artha’s goal is to leverage the untapped liquidity within Bitcoin, estimated at $800 billion, to mirror the success DeFi has seen on the Ethereum network, where over $100 billion in liquidity has been attracted in recent years. The platform will utilize Stacks technology to facilitate liquidity for DeFi decentralized applications (dApps) on Bitcoin.

“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 $800B 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,” states Mithil Thakore, Co-Founder and CEO of Velar.

Velar’s product suite is set to include an automated market maker (AMM), a project launchpad, and the perp DEX, enabling institutions to leverage their idle Bitcoin holdings as collateral in a non-custodial manner. The platform’s testnet AMM launch last May saw significant engagement, with over 165,000 testnet wallets created.

Despite its initial launch on Stacks, Velar maintains a layer-2 agnostic stance, planning to integrate with other leading Bitcoin L2 solutions. Thus, the project is preparing for the imminent launch of its mainnet, Dharma.

“DeFi is the logical next step for Bitcoin. Introducing perps for Bitcoin and other assets that can be swapped in a decentralized way, and earn rewards will help unlock the $500B in untapped value on Bitcoin,” says Muneeb Ali, co-creator of Stacks.

The funding round also saw participation from notable figures in the Bitcoin L2 space, including Cem Özer, Co-Founder and CEO of Sovereign Labs, and Alexei Zamyatin, Co-Founder of Build on Bitcoin, who contributed as angel investors.

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Author: Gino Matos

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