Codex has secured $15.8 million in seed funding to develop a blockchain tailored for stablecoins, placing it at the top of this week’s AI and crypto-related funding announcements. The raise, announced Friday, was led by Dragonfly Capital and also drew backing from major crypto players including Coinbase and Circle.
Dragonfly Capital contributed $14 million of the total, according to general partner Rob Hadick. The funding included both equity and token warrants—promises of allocation in Codex’s forthcoming cryptocurrency—Codex CEO Haonan Li confirmed. The investment comes as stablecoins gain traction in the crypto ecosystem, particularly after Stripe’s $1 billion acquisition of stablecoin startup Bridge earlier this year.
Li, 30, co-founded Codex alongside Victor Yaw and Momo Ong. A former product manager at Meta, Ong also founded his own startup before joining Codex. Yaw’s family owns Samling, a Malaysian conglomerate active in real estate and agriculture.
Codex Builds Stablecoin-Focused Blockchain Layer
Li began building Codex in 2023 after leaving the Ethereum scaling project Optimism, where he helped launch the project’s cryptocurrency and worked alongside Ethereum cofounder Vitalik Buterin. He believes the future lies in single-purpose decentralized platforms, a view he held when stablecoin infrastructure was considered a contrarian pursuit.
“I predated all the buzz,” Li said, recalling his early interest in stablecoins. He left finance after a brief stint at Verdad Advisers, drawn instead to building systems with long-term utility.
Codex is being developed as a layer-two blockchain atop Optimism. According to Li, this configuration minimizes fees and ensures consistent transaction costs regardless of network traffic. The chain includes built-in offramps for fiat conversion and privacy options to allow users to hide certain transaction details, despite the blockchain’s public nature.
Hadick said Codex’s model stands out among peers. “It is something people have talked about,” he said of stablecoin-specific chains. “It is not something that anybody else has done well.”
Codex Leads New Wave of AI Blockchain Deals
Codex’s raise marked the largest among several blockchain and AI startups this week. Ambient raised $7.2 million in a round backed by a16z’s crypto accelerator and Delphi Digital. Cambrian Network closed $5.9 million to expand its decentralized AI finance protocol. Mahojin, focused on open-source blockchain-AI interoperability, secured $5 million in Series A funding from a16z Crypto and Maelstrom Fund.
The9 Limited attracted $8 million through a private placement, while Luxembourg-based Ultra raised funds through NOIA Capital’s digital assets arm. Momentum, aiming to automate team collaboration, raised $5 million from Basis Set Ventures and others.
Codex, however, stood alone at the top of the week’s funding charts, attracting a coalition of top-tier crypto venture firms and market makers, including Cumberland, Wintermute, and Selini Capital.
