Alex raised $5.8 million to bring DeFi to the Bitcoin ecosystem

Author: Brandy Betz

Original Title: 《 Alex Raises $5.8M to Bring DeFi to the Bitcoin Ecosystem》

Translated by: Linqi

Alex has completed a $5.8 million funding round led by White Star Capital. Alex is a DeFi protocol built on the Stacks blockchain associated with Bitcoin.

This funding will help drive the protocol's launch in December and enable the company to expand its developer and user experience teams.

Alex aims to become a one-stop DeFi platform supporting fixed-rate and term Bitcoin lending features. The protocol also supports token issuance and decentralized trading functionalities, including AMM and off-chain order books.

Alex was co-founded by Chiente Hsu and Rachel Yu, both of whom have backgrounds in developing quantitative strategies for Wall Street banks such as Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, and Morgan Stanley. Hsu serves as the CEO of Alex.

In a press release, Hsu stated, "Certain mechanisms of the traditional financial system hinder some people from accessing everyday financial tools. We believe that crypto technology can simplify many financial processes, and this funding will enable us to create new opportunities for women and other marginalized groups."

Additionally, Hsu provided two personal examples of the limitations of traditional financial institutions. The first was when she sent money to her grandmother living in Senegal and distributed the funds from a check to some family members. However, during the remittance process, the fees charged by Western Union were very high, which should have been distributed to the family members.

The second example involved Hsu's 14-year-old daughter, who wanted to open a debit card. Despite her parents having sufficient collateral, she had to undergo a 45-minute account opening interview with a major bank. Ultimately, her daughter had Hsu set up a crypto wallet on her behalf.

"We want to build a truly permissionless and trustless financial service protocol for those without bank accounts and those with existing bank accounts. And users can access this service without any barriers," Hsu said.