Ethereum research firm Chainbound raises $4.6 million to develop transaction preconfirmation protocol Bolt

Quick Take

  • Chainbound raised $4.6 million in seed financing in a round led by Cyber Fund, with support from Maven 11, Robot Ventures and Bankless Ventures, among others.
  • Its first product, Bolt, will enable preconfirmations on Ethereum — allowing for sub-second transaction confirmations, significantly speeding up the average seven-second confirmation period.

Chainbound, the crypto research and development company, has raised $4.6 million in seed financing. The startup is working to develop a protocol called Bolt, which will enable cutting edge preconfirmations on Ethereum — allowing for sub-second transaction confirmations, significantly speeding up the current average seven-second confirmation period.

The round was led by Cyber Fund, with support from Maven 11, Robot Ventures and Bankless Ventures, among others. Angel investors include Flashbot’s Hasu, Titan Builder co-founder Kubi Mensah and Ethereum Foundation researcher Mike Neuder.

Preconfirmations are part of a cutting edge research area in Ethereum working to improve user experience. First proposed by Ethereum Foundation researcher Justin Drake in late 2023, it is a way of rewiring how transactions get included in blocks.

“Preconfirmations enable users to receive transaction confirmations before they are added to an Ethereum block, which can take anywhere from seven seconds to multiple minutes,” Paul Burlage told The Block in an interview. “Inclusion preconfirmations guarantee only the inclusion of a transaction, making them useful for transactions like transfers, mints, and approvals.” 

Bolt one of Chainbound’s first products, will launch first on the Helder testnet, and plans to go live on the Ethereum mainnet by the end of the year.


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© 2025 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

AUTHOR

Daniel Kuhn is a Senior Journalist and Editor at The Block, where he covers the crypto industry with a particular focus on tech. He previously served as deputy managing editor of opinion/features at CoinDesk. He first appeared in print in Financial Planning, a trade publication magazine. Before journalism, he studied philosophy as an undergrad, English literature in graduate school and business and economic reporting at an NYU professional program. You can connect with him on Twitter and Telegram @danielgkuhn or find him on Urbit as ~dorrys-lonreb.

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