On February 1, Velar, a Bitcoin (BTC) DeFi platform, successfully concluded its seed funding round, securing $3.5 million in capital from a diverse group of prominent Web3 investors.
The round witnessed active participation from key ventures such as Bitcoin Startup Lab, CMS Holdings, Black Edge Capital, GBV, Cypher Capital, Trust Machines SPV, Transform Capital, Maple Block, and Samara Asset Group, as per information shared with Finbold.
Leveraging the surging interest in DeFi, Velar is launching the world’s first perpetual decentralized exchange (PerpDEX) on Bitcoin.
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With over $100 billion in liquidity attracted to the Ethereum (ETH) network, Velar aims to tap into Bitcoin’s $800 billion dormant liquidity, offering BTC holders the same value proposition and yields that have been so successful in the Ethereum ecosystem.
Preparations for Dharma mainnet launch
Preparing for the Dharma mainnet launch, Velar, the Uniswap v2-inspired Automated Market Makers (AMM) on Bitcoin Layer Stacks, plans to expedite its PerpDEX, Velar Artha, with new capital. Launching in Q2 2024, this platform will utilize Stacks to provide DeFi decentralized applications (dApps) liquidity on Bitcoin.
Although initially launching on Stacks, Velar is Layer 2 (L2) agnostic and will integrate with other leading Bitcoin Layer 2 solutions. Angel investors in Velar’s funding round include Cem Özer, Co-Founder and CEO of Sovereign Labs, and Alexei Zamyatin, Co-Founder of Build on Bitcoin (BoB).
Mithil Thakore, Co-Founder and CEO of Velar, said:
“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.”
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.”
Eric, CMS Holdings concurred:
“We are excited to support the adoption of DeFi on BTC. After witnessing the explosion of DeFi on ETH with the introduction of swapping, staking, and farming, we believe that Velar brings this same ensemble of DeFi products to the BTC space.”
Velar’s future products
Velar’s upcoming product suite includes an AMM, project launchpad, and PerpDEX, allowing institutions to utilize dormant BTC holdings as collateral in a non-custodial manner. The AMM testnet, launched in May, attracted over 165,000 wallets—a record for a Bitcoin-focused DeFi project.
Despite Ethereum’s prevailing status with 57.3% of the total value locked (TVL) in DeFi, platforms like Stacks, a Bitcoin Layer 2 for smart contracts, DeFi, and NFTs, are fueling the growth of decentralized financial ecosystems on the Bitcoin network, driven by the approval of ten spots Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in January that has heightened interest in Bitcoin’s native asset.
