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

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 ETH -0.68% — 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.