CipherOwl, founded by the team that built Coinbase’s on-chain data and compliance platform, has emerged from stealth with a $15 million seed round co-led by General Catalyst and Flourish Ventures, with participation from Coinbase Ventures, Sancus Ventures, Enlight Capital, OKX Ventures, AME Cloud Ventures, Road Capital, and Predictive VC. The company is introducing an AI-native platform that transforms complex blockchain data into clear, explainable, and auditable insights for institutions navigating the rapidly evolving crypto landscape.
Financial Technology Insights: Flexa Integrates Base Pay for Fast USDC Payments
As blockchain transaction volumes skyrocket, traditional compliance processes struggle to keep up. CipherOwl’s platform changes that by automatically screening millions of transactions, investigating suspicious activity, and producing audit-ready reports turning workflows that once took weeks into processes that happen in minutes. “On-chain is the new rail for moving value, and it’s growing faster than anyone anticipated,” said Leo Liang, CEO and co-founder of CipherOwl. “Legacy tools just weren’t built for this world. Our platform gives institutions decisions they can trust, backed by evidence that regulators can audit.”
The company’s “SR3 stack”—Screening, Reasoning, Reporting, and Research—coordinates the full compliance workflow from start to finish. It treats blockchain data as the ultimate source of truth, delivering consistent and reproducible outcomes without sacrificing explainability. The AI orchestrates investigations, flags suspicious activity, and keeps detailed evidence trails, giving compliance teams confidence that nothing falls through the cracks.
Financial Technology Insights: Bybit Expands Futures & Options with XRP, MNT, DOGE
CipherOwl’s launch comes at a critical time. Crypto is moving mainstream, institutions are stepping into blockchain markets, and regulatory scrutiny is intensifying worldwide. “Manual transaction review just can’t scale anymore,” said Marc Bhargava, Managing Director at General Catalyst. “CipherOwl provides the intelligence and automation institutions need to operate safely and confidently in this new environment.”
Even before its public debut, CipherOwl has already won the trust of major clients like Coinbase, OKX, 0x, Cobo, and Story Protocol. The founding team brings unmatched expertise in crypto infrastructure and compliance: Liang previously led Coinbase’s on-chain data platform, and co-founder Ming Jiang oversaw its product development for compliance services.
Financial Technology Insights: Bybit Introduces Manual Borrowing for Smarter Margin Trades
With this funding, CipherOwl plans to expand its engineering team, cover more blockchain networks, and strengthen partnerships with both private institutions and public sector agencies. By combining AI with human oversight, the company aims to make compliance not just a checkbox, but a smart, evidence-based process that scales giving institutions the tools to operate securely, efficiently, and with confidence in the fast-moving world of blockchain finance.
To share your insights with the FinTech Newsroom, please write to us at sudipto@intentamplify.com