A $4.6 million check and a team from BlackRock’s digital assets unit. That is the seed capital for a bet that retail investors in Vietnam, Indonesia, and beyond will trade leveraged perpetual futures on U.S. stocks via a mobile app that hides its crypto rails. HelloTrade, founded this year, is not yet live. Its founders, Wyatt Raich and Kevin Tang, are using the money to build a product they say will launch by early 2026 [Fortune, Nov 2025]. The target is a specific frustration: the difficulty for non-U.S. residents to access common assets like Tesla stock. Their answer is a mobile-first platform offering 24/7 trading with up to 10x use, built on the high-throughput MegaETH blockchain [hello.trade]. The pitch is speed and simplicity, abstracting wallets and gas fees. The question is whether global retail wants perpetuals as its primary on-ramp.
The wedge: perpetuals, not spot
HelloTrade is not building another spot brokerage app. Its core product is leveraged perpetual futures contracts on a basket of assets including stocks, ETFs, commodities, and crypto [hello.trade]. This is a deliberate wedge. Perpetual futures, which do not expire, allow traders to gain amplified exposure to an asset’s price movements without needing to hold the underlying security. For a user in a jurisdiction with capital controls or limited broker access, it is a path to synthetic exposure. For HelloTrade, it is a product with clearer crypto-native settlement and margin mechanics than spot equity trading. Kevin Tang told Fortune the platform “aims to give investors around the world access to U.S. assets,” citing examples in Southeast Asia [Fortune, Nov 2025]. The use, reported up to 10x, is the hook [VCpedia].
Abstracting the crypto out
The technical bet sits on MegaETH, a layer-2 blockchain that claims transaction throughput exceeding 100,000 per second [Digital Journal, Nov 2025]. This is the infrastructure for the promised “institutional-grade security and performance.” But the user-facing bet is on abstraction. The company says its app will require no wallet setup, no gas payments, and no technical jargon. “Users simply open the app and trade with the speed of a traditional brokerage platform,” according to a November press release [Digital Journal, Nov 2025]. This is the critical adoption gamble: that users will benefit from blockchain settlement without ever knowing it is there. The experience is meant to feel like using Robinhood or eToro, but with 24/7 markets and use baked in.
A team built at BlackRock
The credibility for this complex fintech-crypto hybrid stems from the founders’ resumes. Both Raich and Tang worked in BlackRock’s digital assets division. Tang, according to Fortune, helped the asset management giant “pivot from its loud skepticism of crypto to being one of Wall Street’s major players in the sector” [Fortune, Nov 2025]. Raich was previously head of digital assets engineering at the firm [DL News]. This background suggests deep familiarity with both institutional finance and crypto infrastructure, a rare crossover. They have assembled a lean team of around 10 employees to build the initial product [Times of Blockchain].
Their advisory board reads like a who’s who of crypto trading and fintech, adding further heft:
| Advisor | Affiliation |
|---|---|
| Arthur Hayes | Maelstrom (ex-BitMEX) |
| Josh Lim | FalconX |
| David C. | LeadBlock Partners & LeadBlock Bitpanda Ventures |
| Larry Florio | Ethena |
| Andrew Saunders | Amazon |
Source: [Digital Journal, Nov 2025]
The presence of Hayes, a pioneer of crypto derivatives, and Lim of institutional trading firm FalconX, signals a focus on exchange-grade mechanics. Andrew Saunders, who built Amazon’s global entertainment and sports partnerships, brings consumer-scale product expertise [LinkedIn, Andrew Saunders].
Where the execution risks live
HelloTrade’s ambitions are large, and its path is lined with significant challenges. The company is pre-launch, so all traction claims are forward-looking. The product’s success hinges on several unproven elements.
- Regulatory navigation. Offering leveraged derivatives on U.S. equities to global retail is a magnet for regulatory scrutiny. The company has not detailed its licensing strategy or geographic rollout plan. A misstep here could be fatal.
- MegaETH’s performance. The platform’s speed and user experience are predicated on the MegaETH blockchain delivering its promised throughput at scale. This is a technical dependency on an external layer-2 that is itself relatively new.
- Market fit. The bet assumes a large population of retail investors outside the U.S. are seeking leveraged exposure to traditional assets, not just crypto. This demand may exist, but it is nuanced and competitive. Established crypto exchanges like Bitget and Kraken are already adding equity access [TradingView News].
Tang’s answer to the timing question is pragmatic. In November, he said the product is expected to launch “at the end of this year or the beginning of next year” [Fortune, Nov 2025]. That gives the team a short runway to convert capital into a live, stable product.
The capital and the countdown
The $4.6 million seed round, led by Dragonfly Capital with participation from Mirana Ventures, closed in November 2025 [Digital Journal, Nov 2025]. It is the only disclosed funding. For a pre-launch fintech with a team of ten, that capital is likely earmarked for core engineering, compliance groundwork, and a launch marketing push. Dragonfly Capital’s lead suggests investor confidence in the team’s pedigree and the macro-thesis of merging TradFi accessibility with crypto efficiency.
The next twelve months are a straight-line test. The milestone is clear: a successful public launch of the iOS and Android apps, followed by early user adoption metrics. The company will need to demonstrate that its abstracted crypto UX works seamlessly and that it can onboard users in its initial target markets without regulatory friction. A Series A round will likely depend on proving that the perpetuals wedge can attract and retain a global retail base. Can Raich and Tang translate their BlackRock experience into a product that wins in Ho Chi Minh City and Jakarta? The $4.6 million seed says their investors are willing to find out.
Sources
- [Digital Journal, Nov 2025] Hellotrade founded by former BlackRock crypto directors raises $4.6M seed round led by Dragonfly Capital | https://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/news/binary-news-network/hellotrade-founded-former-blackrock-crypto-1902698412.html
- [Fortune, Nov 2025] Former BlackRock employees raise $4.6 million for crypto trading platform | https://fortune.com/2025/11/20/former-blackrock-employees-raise-4-6-million/
- [hello.trade] HelloTrade website | https://www.hello.trade
- [VCpedia] hello trade - Startup Details | https://vcpedia.com/startups/5202
- [DL News] Wyatt Raich profile | https://www.dlnews.com
- [Times of Blockchain] HelloTrade team size | https://www.timesofblockchain.com
- [TradingView News] As Bitget and Kraken Add Equity Access, HelloTrade to Offer Leveraged Trading to Retail Investors | https://www.tradingview.com/news/financemagnates:2de2f9c91094b:0-as-bitget-and-kraken-add-equity-access-hellotrade-to-offer-leveraged-trading-to-retail-investors/
- [LinkedIn, Andrew Saunders] Andrew Saunders profile | https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewtsaunders/