Hamilton Labs has closed a $1.7 million pre-seed round to build financial products on Bitcoin's infrastructure, the startup announced January 20. DisrupTech Ventures led the investment, joined by CMS Holdings, DeSpread, Hyperithm, Core Ventures and a group of individual backers whose names the company did not disclose.
The financing underscores a bet that Bitcoin can evolve beyond a store of value into a platform for sophisticated financial instruments. Co-founders Mohamed Elkasstawi and Ehab Zaghloul, who launched the venture last year, are developing a stablecoin pegged to U.S. Treasuries and tools that let institutions tokenize assets directly on Bitcoin's network. The company declined to share its valuation.
It's a crowded space. Circle, BlackRock, Franklin Templeton and Ondo have all staked claims in the market for tokenized Treasury products, which have drawn billions in capital as investors hunt for yield in blockchain-native formats. Hamilton Labs is positioning itself as a Bitcoin-first alternative in a field dominated by Ethereum-based offerings, though whether that distinction will matter to institutional buyers remains unclear.
The startup's flagship product, HUSD, is designed as a Bitcoin-native stablecoin backed by short-term government debt. A second offering, HUST, tokenizes Treasury bills on Bitcoin layer-2 networks. The company also introduced Publius, a platform intended to help financial institutions move a range of assets onto Bitcoin infrastructure. Hamilton had already begun tokenizing T-Bills on layer-2 solutions including Stacks, Core and BoB by early July 2024, according to an earlier announcement.
Elkasstawi brings a mix of fintech and venture credentials. He previously co-founded Tribal Credit, a corporate card platform for emerging markets, and later became a founding partner at zk Capital. His academic background includes stints at Stanford and Northern Illinois University. Zaghloul, who holds a doctorate in electrical and computer engineering from Michigan State, has published peer-reviewed research on blockchain security protocols.
The market for tokenized real-world assets has expanded rapidly, though precise figures vary depending on the methodology. Industry trackers have reported the sector reaching into the tens of billions, with tokenized Treasuries accounting for a substantial share. Hamilton is pursuing institutional clients as well as retail users in emerging economies, where dollar-denominated, yield-bearing instruments can serve as inflation hedges.
Earlier this year, the company secured an investment from AXIAN Investment, a move it framed as an entry point into African markets. The plan, according to Hamilton, involves partnering with local fintech platforms to distribute its stablecoin to users who lack access to traditional banking infrastructure. Whether those integrations will materialize at scale is an open question, given the regulatory hurdles and operational complexities that have slowed similar efforts elsewhere.
"Bitcoin isn't just digital gold, it's the foundational layer of future capital markets," Elkasstawi said in a statement released with the funding announcement. It's a lofty claim, one that assumes institutions will embrace Bitcoin's network for functions that have, until now, been handled largely by more flexible blockchains like Ethereum.
The startup's employee count remains modest. Its LinkedIn profile lists four people, which is typical for a company at this stage but also points to the execution risk ahead. Building compliant financial products, securing institutional partnerships and scaling distribution across multiple geographies requires infrastructure and regulatory navigation that a small team will need to manage carefully.
For now, Hamilton Labs is placing its chips on a bet that Bitcoin's brand and perceived security will outweigh the technical trade-offs of building on a blockchain not originally designed for complex financial applications. The next year will likely show whether that thesis holds, or whether the company ends up competing on the same playing field as everyone else.
