Key Takeaways:
- New capital fuels a shift toward streamlined onchain development.
- A simplified protocol cuts out lengthy smart contract processes.
- The model invites both crypto startups and established finance to engage with blockchain.
Blockchain payments firm Halliday has secured $20 million in Series A funding, led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) with participation from Avalanche Blizzard Fund, Credibly Neutral, and Alt Layer, the firm announced Tuesday.
The investment seeks to accelerate the development of Halliday’s Workflow Protocol, which enables onchain application development without smart contracts.
In a press release shared with Cryptonews, the firm said other angel investors such as Viktor Bunin from Coinbase, Jason Zhao from Story Protocol, Ekram Ahmed from Celestia, and Nikil Viswanathan and Joe Lau from Alchemy also contributed.
a16z’s Second Investment in Halliday
This marks a16z crypto’s second investment in Halliday, following a $6 million seed round in 2022, bringing the company’s total funding to over $26 million.
This investment will support the development of Halliday Payments—a platform designed to streamline onchain application development—while allowing the company to expand its team.
Addressing Challenges in Onchain Development
For years, smart contracts have been the foundation of onchain applications, but their development process is slow, expensive, and complex, explains Halliday.
Writing and deploying smart contracts resembles hardware engineering—requiring extensive testing, security audits, and significant development time.
The emergence of AI in blockchain also faces challenges due to compliance and security risks.
For AI-driven automation to thrive onchain, there needs to be a more robust infrastructure allowing businesses to oversee and control AI workflows, says the firm.
Halliday claims the Workflow Protocol solves these problems. It allows developers to automate workflows—such as onramping to an L2, recurring payments, treasury management, and B2B operations—without writing a single smart contract.
The protocol substantially reduces development time, allowing teams to launch applications in hours rather than the months or years traditionally required for smart contract development.
Supporting and Powering Major Projects
Since 2023, Halliday has been stress-testing its workflow engine with major industry partners, including DeFi Kingdoms, Core Wallet (Ava Labs), and ApeChain.
Soon, the Workflow Protocol will also go live with Story Protocol, Lens, Frax, and several other leading blockchain projects.
Simplifying Application Development Without Smart Contracts
With Halliday, Web2 and Web3 businesses can build applications without the complexity of smart contract development, claims the firm.
Banks, fintechs, and financial institutions can tap into the decentralized economy with ease—offering digital asset payments, stablecoin subscriptions, yield products, and programmable treasury management.
Beyond its investment in Halliday, a16z continues to expand its crypto footprint.
a16z Launches Spring 2025 Accelerator for Crypto Startups
a16z announced plans in January to launch its crypto startup accelerator program (CSX) in San Francisco this spring.
The a16z crypto startup accelerator offers funding, mentorship, and operational support to help early-stage startups grow and scale.
As a result, many compare this initiative to Y Combinator, but it is specifically designed for crypto ventures.
Additionally, participating founders receive capital, build connections with industry experts and collaborate with Web3 teams.
The post Halliday Raises $20M Funding Led by VC Giant a16z appeared first on Cryptonews.
