Five Bells has successfully completed its seed funding round, led by Ego Death Capital, with contributions from Epoch VC, Timechain, and Fulgur Ventures. The company, founded by former executives of NYDIG and Two Sigma, is developing the first native Bitcoin Delivery versus Payment (DvP) settlement layer. This innovative solution aims to mitigate counterparty risk in large-scale Bitcoin transactions by allowing parties to pre-lock settlement terms on-chain, similar to an escrow system, and automatically finalize delivery upon confirmation of fiat or stablecoin payments. The settlement layer utilizes Taproot FROST contracts, leveraging the Bitcoin network as a neutral trust anchor to reduce operational friction and settlement costs. Five Bells plans to launch the service to customers after completing final testing and audits.