Portal is launching its marketplace and crypto wallet in an attempt to reduce Web3 fragmentation. The new ecosystem services will target game developers and more.
This company wants to bring the simplicity of Web2 to the decentralized world for both users and developers, creating a consolidated experience for product discoverability, liquidity flows, and user engagement.
Portal Hub and Portal Wallet aim to unify the fragmented Web3 landscape, driving the ecosystem closer to mainstream adoption. Portal was founded in 2023 and it is part of a wider team with more than 120 people.
At launch, Portal general manager Ezra Strauss said in an email to GamesBeat that its Portal Hub marketplace would be home to more than 150 of the best Web3 games. Similarly, the Portal Wallet is launching with Unreal and Unity SDKs live, enabling game developers to integrate into their products at the engine-level.
Strauss said Portal has curated the best games for the hub, and more than 50 are Portal partners. Portal has a total of more than 200 overall partners. A list of post-launch partnerships are lined up to add more industry-leading developers as partners and to the hub.
As part of the Portal Hub release campaign, Portal is launching an early adopter rewards program where qualifying users who sign up for a Portal Hub account will qualify to earn rewards.
Web3’s current challenges go beyond individual blockchains or projects. Siloed users, scattered attention, and fragmented liquidity have resulted in a slow and complex UX, ultimately stunting adoption and hurting developers. Portal’s solution is to form a unified network of users and liquidity aggregated from every blockchain that developers can access via the Portal Hub.
The Portal Hyperway is a universal layer that sits atop the current fragmented landscape of blockchains, empowering those within the network to do anything on any blockchain, the company said.
Both users and developers are part of the Hyperway; users can tap into the best content and opportunities across every chain with no additional friction, while developers are able to solve their distribution needs by tapping into the Hyperway’s aggregated, cross-chain user base. The creation of such a layer enables seamless movement across Web3, resulting in more efficient discovery, navigation and, ultimately, liquidity across the space.
Portal’s new product suite – Portal Hub and Portal Wallet – enables users and developers to tap into the Hyperway. Portal Hub functions as a centralized, cross-chain marketplace combining elements of the Apple AppStore (for users) and novel network of users and liquidity for developers.
The Portal Wallet, using the latest in account abstraction technology to control a web3 wallet, serves as a unified account for accessing Portal’s ecosystem, simplifying asset management and transactions across blockchains with Social Login and other mainstream features. Paired with the Hyperway, a liquidity superhighway connecting users, assets, and opportunities, it empowers both users and developers to unlock the full potential of a seamless, interconnected Web3 economy.
“This monumental launch demonstrates our commitment to unifying Web3—bridging gaps in liquidity, user experience, and accessibility that have long held back the ecosystem,” said Strauss, in a statement. “This launch brings us closer to a truly decentralized, yet accessible Web3, enabling developers and users to thrive without the barriers fragmentation imposes. Portal’s proven expertise in gaming and distribution now expands to infrastructure that drives the Web3 space to unprecedented heights.”
How developers can benefit
Portal Pay is already redefining how digital assets are used by delivering a seamless, secure, and low-cost payment solution. Powered by Portal’s Hyperway liquidity infrastructure, it enables instant, cross-chain transactions without the need for intermediaries, making blockchain-based payments practical for everyday use.
With the announcement of Portal Hub and Portal Wallet, the ecosystem is expanding into an all-encompassing Web3 platform, the company said. Portal Hub provides developers with tools for distribution, real-time analytics, and cross-chain liquidity—offering the Web3 equivalent of AWS to unlock unprecedented scalability and audience reach.
Portal Wallet integrates seamlessly, serving as a unified liquidity layer for cross-chain transactions, while leveraging account abstraction and social login to enhance usability without compromising security. Together, Portal Pay, Hub, and Wallet form a powerful ecosystem that bridges traditional and decentralized finance, empowering users and developers to seamlessly transact, innovate, and scale in the rapidly evolving Web3 landscape.
Solving fragmentation with the Portal Hyperway
Web3’s financial landscape has long been plagued by liquidity fragmentation across isolated chains, leading to inefficiencies and price inconsistencies that deter users and stifle market growth.
The Portal Hyperway addresses these challenges with a groundbreaking cross-chain liquidity infrastructure that acts as a “Liquidity Superhighway,” enabling seamless asset movement and transactions across blockchains, platforms, and applications. Powered by Portal’s innovative technology, including the Wallet and Hub, the Hyperway unifies the Web3 experience.
The Portal Wallet offers a single, user-friendly account for managing cross-chain assets, leveraging account abstraction and social login for simplicity and security. Meanwhile, the Portal Hub equips developers with tools for scaling, real-time analytics, and distribution. Together, these solutions eliminate chain-specific barriers, reduce costs, and enhance the user experience, unlocking new opportunities in Web3.
A user-centric marketplace and wallet for Web3
Portal Hub and Wallet surpass typical Web3 offerings with features inspired by Web2’s user-friendly approach. Real-time recommendations and a community-driven marketplace on Portal Hub create an experience that makes Web3 accessible and intuitive.
Portal Wallet’s cross-chain support allows users to manage assets with the ease of a traditional digital wallet. By addressing the fragmentation of user attention, Portal introduces the discoverability, ease, and engagement that Web3 has been missing.
Combining Portal’s gaming expertise with a commitment to addressing Web3’s core challenges, Portal Hub and Wallet bridge the gap between Web2 simplicity and Web3 innovation.
Portal launched its token in February 2024, with $8 billion in the launch pool on Binance. It has launched Portal Pay and has processed more than $60 million in payments.
As for the competition, Strauss said, “In general, Arbitrum, Avalanche, Polygon, Base, and Optimism are building connectivity within their own ecosystems. These are all like countries or alliances that have their own borders and are in competition with one another. Portal is building products and technology that unify and aggregate all of this content – and more – to improve overall accessibility to the best content in any ecosystem.”
Strauss added, “Sequence is an EVM-only B2B wallet provider, limited to supplying their tech to companies like Immutable and others to create game wallets or ecosystem wallets. Portal, in addition to having our ecosystem wallet, owns our own distribution and audience through Portal Hub and Wallet and our marketing channels. Importantly, the Portal ecosystem also extends beyond the EVM ecosystem.”
And Strauss said, “Immutable’s ecosystem and products are limited to the Immutable zkEVM and ImmutableX blockchains. While there are some similarities, Portal Wallet, Pay, and the Portal ecosystem broadly extend across more than 15 chains including Base, Solana, Sui, Bitcoin, and more.”
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