Block Street Secures $11.5M to Develop On-Chain Stock Execution Layer

Block Street, a nascent crypto infrastructure startup, has closed an $11.5 million funding round to pioneer an execution layer for tokenized equities. The investment was spearheaded by Hack VC, with participation from Generative Venture, DWF Labs, and executives from Jane Street and Point72.

The firm's Aqua system, built on Monad's parallel EVM, employs a request-for-quote model where market makers compete to provide optimal pricing. Quotes are cryptographically signed and verified on-chain to eliminate manipulation risks. Block Street's Everst component introduces equity-specific lending and liquidation tools, enabling shorting, hedging, and borrowing while mitigating MEV leakage.

"We're building infrastructure, not just another application," emphasized Hedy Wang, Block Street co-founder. The platform leverages Monad's low-latency environment to meet institutional settlement standards while embedding execution quality controls directly on-chain.

Initial deployment on Monad is slated for late 2024, with subsequent expansions to Ethereum, BNB Chain, and Base. The team comprises veterans from Citadel and Point72, signaling serious institutional ambitions for tokenized traditional assets.