'BlackRock alumni' startup HelloTrade raises $4.6 million in seed funding

HelloTrade, a blockchain-based trading platform founded by former employees of the world's largest asset manager BlackRock, has raised $4.6 million (about 6.8 billion won) in seed funding.

HelloTrade said on the 20th (local time) that it had closed a seed round of $46 billion. The seed round was led by U.S. crypto-focused venture capital (VC) Dragonfly Capital. HelloTrade said, "This (seed) round closed in less than a week," and added, "It reflects investors' confidence in the market opportunity and the founders' track record (career)."

HelloTrade is a blockchain startup founded by people who led BlackRock's launch of a spot Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund (ETF). Specifically, it was co-founded by former BlackRock Digital Assets team Senior Director Kevin Tang and former BlackRock Digital Asset Lab engineering lead Wyatt Raich.

U.S. Fortune reported, "(During Tang and Raich's) tenure, BlackRock launched not only a spot Bitcoin ETF but also a spot Ethereum (ETH) ETF," and "those funds were the first cryptocurrency ETFs and delivered record performance from their early listings."

HelloTrade's goal is to expand investment accessibility across various products such as stocks, ETFs, commodities, and cryptocurrencies by integrating blockchain technology. To this end, HelloTrade designed its application (app) as mobile-first.

HelloTrading said it has completely removed wallet setup, gas fees, and jargon, which have been cited as barriers to entering cryptocurrency trading. A HelloTrading representative said, "For decades, access to global capital markets and leveraged stock trading have been constrained by geographic restrictions, high capital requirements, and complex derivatives structures," and "with HelloTrading, users can trade a variety of investment products quickly like a brokerage."

HelloTrade sees limitations in existing crypto trading platforms such as Robinhood and Revolut. Kevin Tang, co-founder of HelloTrade, said, "(Existing trading platforms) can be difficult and inconvenient from a user perspective," and "HelloTrade will focus on building a better user interface." He added, "We have already seen how crypto derivatives have revolutionized access to digital assets," and "we will apply the same approach to traditional equity markets to enable investors worldwide to participate in dynamic global markets."

High-profile figures in the crypto industry have also joined HelloTrade's advisory board. A notable example is Arthur Hayes, co-founder of BitMEX and Maelstrom Chief Investment Officer (CIO). Others on the advisory board include Joshua Lim, market head at FalconX, and Larry Florio, deputy legal counsel at Athena (ENA).

Meanwhile, HelloTrade plans to launch its trading app as early as the end of this year. HelloTrade said, "Users who want to use it in advance can register on the currently active waitlist."