A significant development in the blockchain and trading sectors has emerged as HelloTrade successfully secured $4.6 million in seed funding, led by Dragonfly Capital. The funding round concluded in less than a week, indicating substantial investor interest in the evolving marketplace for digital assets. This fledgling company aims to create a blockchain-based trading platform, drawing on the extensive experience of its founders, who previously worked at BlackRock, where they played crucial roles in launching the firm’s spot Bitcoin ETF.
The urgency of HelloTrade’s launch coincides with a broader trend where other crypto platforms are innovating to offer equity-linked products. Notable competitors like Bitget and Kraken are now rolling out “always-on” tokenized U.S. equities, enabling users to invest in high-profile companies such as Apple and Tesla, as well as indices like the S&P 500. These tokenized assets clear transactions on-chain within seconds and are available for trading five days a week, sidestepping the traditional brokerage model. However, critics caution that these products might resemble contracts for difference (CFDs) rather than actual shares. MEXC has also entered the fray by introducing USDT-settled stock futures that offer up to 5x leverage, allowing users to gain exposure to U.S. equities without needing a conventional brokerage account.
HelloTrade’s founders address the longstanding limitations in access to global markets, which have historically been hindered by geographical barriers, high capital requirements, and archaic brokerage systems. Their aim is to democratize trading by providing users—both retail and professionals—with easier access to leveraged or directional exposure to equities. This is achieved through a mobile-first platform designed to simplify the trading process by eliminating several cumbersome steps often associated with crypto trading.
Kevin Tang, one of the founders, emphasized that leveraging stock trading should not be restricted by geographical boundaries or minimum account requirements. Drawing from the transformative impact of crypto derivatives on access to digital assets, he envisions a similar revolution in traditional markets with HelloTrade. Supporting the company in its mission is an advisory group that includes recognized figures in the finance and crypto industries: Arthur Hayes, Josh Lim, David C., Larry Florio, and Andrew Saunders.
HelloTrade’s platform is built on MegaETH, aiming to offer leveraged exposure not only to equities but also to ETFs, commodities, and cryptocurrencies. The user-friendly design requires no wallet setup, no gas payments, and avoids technical jargon, thus allowing trades to be executed at speeds comparable to traditional brokers. According to Wyatt Raich, another member of the founding team, their tenure at BlackRock underscored the immense global demand for secure, well-managed digital asset products. His involvement with projects such as IBIT, ETHA, and BUIDL highlighted the potential to extend high standards in financial management to a larger audience, a principle integrated into the design of HelloTrade.
