Marathon's Layer-2 Chain, Anduro, Plugs In 'Portal to Bitcoin' for Atomic Swaps
The publicly-traded bitcoin miner Marathon began incubating Anduro in February as a "platform built on the Bitcoin network that allows for the creation of multiple sidechains."

- Portal uses Bitcoin layer-2 network Lightning to allow users to convert assets like ETH into BTC by the use of atomic swaps.
- As well as introducing greater utility to Bitcoin, Anduro may present an opportunity for further revenue streams for miners, hence Marathon's involvement.
Anduro, a multi-chain layer-2 network incubated by bitcoin miner Marathon Digital Holdings (MARA), has incorporated the decentralized exchange (DEX) network Portal to Bitcoin – formerly known simply as Portal – with the goal of enhancing utility on the world's oldest blockchain network.
Publicly-traded Marathon began incubating Anduro in February as a "platform built on the Bitcoin network that allows for the creation of multiple sidechains."
The integration with a San Francisco-based fintech provider DEX network coincides with a renaming of the project to Portal to Bitcoin, according to an emailed announcement shared with CoinDesk on Wednesday.
The company formerly known as Portal raised a $34 million seed round in March, and uses the Bitcoin layer-2 network Lightning to allow users to convert assets like ETH into BTC by the use of atomic swaps - peer-to-peer transactions where cryptocurrencies can be exchanged on different blockchains.
Such practice is commonplace between Ethereum-based assets and on other blockchains, but is a far more recent development on Bitcoin.
As well as introducing greater utility to Bitcoin, Anduro may present an opportunity for further revenue streams for miners; hence Marathon's involvement.
Anduro’s sidechains use a process called merge-mining, whereby participating miners could earn Bitcoin-denominated revenue from transactions that occur on these chains while continuing to mine bitcoin on the base-layer.
Read More: Crypto for Advisors: Layer 2s and the Evolution of Bitcoin
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Exchange Review - March 2025

CoinDesk Data's monthly Exchange Review captures the key developments within the cryptocurrency exchange market. The report includes analyses that relate to exchange volumes, crypto derivatives trading, market segmentation by fees, fiat trading, and more.
What to know:
Trading activity softened in March as market uncertainty grew amid escalating tariff tensions between the U.S. and global trading partners. Centralized exchanges recorded their lowest combined trading volume since October, declining 6.24% to $6.79tn. This marked the third consecutive monthly decline across both market segments, with spot trading volume falling 14.1% to $1.98tn and derivatives trading slipping 2.56% to $4.81tn.
- Trading Volumes Decline for Third Consecutive Month: Combined spot and derivatives trading volume on centralized exchanges fell by 6.24% to $6.79tn in March 2025, reaching the lowest level since October. Both spot and derivatives markets recorded their third consecutive monthly decline, falling 14.1% and 2.56% to $1.98tn and $4.81tn respectively.
- Institutional Crypto Trading Volume on CME Falls 23.5%: In March, total derivatives trading volume on the CME exchange fell by 23.5% to $175bn, the lowest monthly volume since October 2024. CME's market share among derivatives exchanges dropped from 4.63% to 3.64%, suggesting declining institutional interest amid current macroeconomic conditions.
- Bybit Spot Market Share Slides in March: Spot trading volume on Bybit fell by 52.1% to $81.1bn in March, coinciding with decreased trading activity following the hack of the exchange's cold wallets in February. Bybit's spot market share dropped from 7.35% to 4.10%, its lowest since July 2023.
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