X21 Digital Leads $3 Million Seed Funding Round for Atomiq DeFi

Venture capital company X21 Digital led the $3 million initial investment round for Atomiq DeFi, a decentralized finance platform.

The world’s first atomic-swap powered decentralized exchange (DEX) on Bitcoin, developed with the help of the Mintlayer layer-2 protocol, will be supported by the recent additional financial infusion.

The initiative benefited from a $1.5 million grant from Mintlayer’s Ecosystem Fund and was the first to be incubated by the company. During this round, Atomiq DeFi has also received support from other venture capital companies, including as Spicy Capital, NXGen, Dutch Crypto Investors (DCI Capital), AlphaBit, and Altcoin Buzz.

The product suite that Atomiq DeFi is creating consists of AtomiqDEX, a decentralized exchange; AtomiqWallet, a flexible wallet for BTC, MLS, and EVM tokens; AtomiqPad, a launchpad for initiatives built on Bitcoin and Mintlayer; and AtomiqBridge. The latter product makes it easier for total value locked (TVL) to move into the Bitcoin ecosystem from EVM and other chains.

In an effort to build a more cohesive Bitcoin ecosystem, the business has also established strategic alliances with other Bitcoin DeFi initiatives, including SatoshiSync, Portal, and OrdinalsBot.

Charlie Shrem, Bitcoin Foundation Founder and Advisor stated:

“Exploring the frontiers of Bitcoin DeFi, Atomiq DeFi’s DEX and its atomic swaps technology are nothing short of revolutionary. It’s like we’re opening a new chapter in the saga of blockchain evolution. Being one of the early believers in Bitcoin and Mintlayer, I can’t help but feel a surge of excitement seeing our path now merging with the groundbreaking efforts of Atomiq DeFi. It’s a thrilling time to be part of this journey.”

Lester Lim, X21 Digital Lead Investor added:

“The introduction of Atomiq DeFi’s atomic swap-powered DEX marks a pivotal moment for Bitcoin. It’s a testament to the innovative spirit driving the DeFi space and a clear sign that Bitcoin’s untapped potential is finally being realized.”

Atomiq DeFi intends to enter the quickly growing $500 billion Bitcoin DeFi industry, which is estimated by Pantera Capital. Prominent individuals including Charlie Shrem from the Bitcoin Foundation and Lester Lim from X21 are on the project’s advisory board. It is now in extensive due diligence and advanced talks with many premier launchpads.

The introduction of innovative features to the Bitcoin network, spearheaded by initiatives like Ordinals, has sparked significant interest in the decentralized finance (DeFi) potential of Bitcoin. These advancements aim to enhance Bitcoin’s functionality and interoperability within the broader DeFi ecosystem. However, one notable challenge has been the reliance on Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) and similar tokenized versions of Bitcoin, which necessitate custodial management of underlying reserves.

While WBTC and its variants facilitate the use of Bitcoin in DeFi protocols and smart contracts on other blockchains, they introduce a layer of centralization through custodial entities. This dependency on custodians contradicts the fundamental ethos of decentralization that underpins many DeFi initiatives.

Atomic swaps have been a popular idea to solve these problems with Bitcoin DeFi. Atomic swaps remove the need for wrapped tokens by enabling direct, cross-blockchain transactions and guaranteeing their simultaneous execution.