Five Bells Secures Funding to Launch Native Bitcoin DvP Settlement Protocol

Five Bells, a newly formed infrastructure company co-founded by veterans from NYDIG and Two Sigma, has successfully completed its seed funding round. The round was led by Ego Death Capital and included backing from Epoch VC, Timechain, and Fulgur Ventures, among others. The company is developing what it describes as the first native DvP settlement layer built directly on the Bitcoin network—a significant step toward streamlining high-value institutional Bitcoin transactions.

Solving the Institutional Bitcoin Challenge: Understanding DvP Settlement

For institutional players moving large volumes of Bitcoin, counterparty risk remains a persistent friction point. Traditional settlement processes require trust in intermediaries and involve multiple operational steps. Five Bells’ DvP (Delivery vs. Payment) solution changes this equation by enabling both transacting parties to pre-establish and lock settlement terms directly on-chain. Rather than relying on manual processes, the system automatically executes delivery the moment fiat transfers or stablecoin payments confirm. This approach dramatically cuts operational overhead while virtually eliminating settlement failures—critical for institutions managing billions in assets.

A Team Built for Bitcoin Infrastructure

The leadership team’s pedigree speaks volumes. NYDIG and Two Sigma represent two of the most credible names in institutional-grade Bitcoin infrastructure and quantitative finance respectively. By combining this expertise with venture backing from top-tier crypto investors, Five Bells positions itself as a serious contender in the emerging DvP space. The funding validates market appetite for solutions that make Bitcoin transactions as seamless as traditional financial settlement.

The Technology: Taproot FROST Contracts as Trust Anchor

Five Bells leverages Taproot FROST contracts—an advanced Bitcoin scripting technology—to create what amounts to a digital escrow system. Unlike external settlement layers, this DvP protocol uses the Bitcoin network itself as the ultimate trust anchor. Both parties lock their Bitcoin in a secure manner, with execution logic embedded directly on-chain. The result: settlement that’s cryptographically guaranteed rather than institutionally dependent.

What’s Next

The company is currently undergoing final testing and security audits before opening its service to institutional clients. Once live, Five Bells’ DvP settlement layer could become infrastructure-level standard for any institution seeking to clear Bitcoin with institutional-grade certainty and operational efficiency.