AtomiqDeFi, a DeFi services platform, has secured USD 3 million in seed funding led by X21 Digital, with participation from NXGen, Dutch Crypto Investors (DCI Capital), Spicy Capital, Altcoin Buzz, and AlphaBit fund. This round will reportedly bring the company's total funding to USD 4.5 million.

The company plans to use the funds to support the development of its product offerings and enter new partnerships with layer-1 launchpads.  

AtomiqDeFi offers a suite of DeFi products and services built on MintLayer, a Bitcoin Layer-2 protocol. These include 1) a decentralized exchange, which leverages Atomic swaps to enable users to trade Mintlayer-based tokens and BTC directly from their wallets, 2) a token launchpad, which enables users to launch new tokens within the ecosystem, 3) a DeFi wallet, which supports a number of cryptocurrencies and blockchains, and 4) a cross-chain bridge, that enables users to swap tokens between Ethereum virtual machine (EVM) compatible blockchains. 

Analyst QuickTake: This news adds to a growing trend of Bitcoin layer-2 projects exploring the use of smart contracts to expand the functionality of Bitcoin. The space has also seen recent interest from investors over the last few months, with startups such as OrangeDX , Portal , and Bitfinity , raising USD 1.5 million , USD 34 million , and USD 7 million , respectively, and BabylonChain and BounceBit securing an undisclosed investment from Binance. Notably, these developments also coincide with the approval of a number of spot Bitcoin ETFs in January and the subsequent rise in the spot price of Bitcoin above its previous all-time high early last month.