Halliday has raised $20 million in Series A funding to develop AI agents that can safely operate on blockchain networks without requiring traditional smart contract development. The funding round, led by Andreessen Horowitz’s crypto arm (a16z crypto), brings the company’s total funding to over $26 million.
The investment signals growing confidence in Halliday’s approach to solving one of AI’s thorniest challenges: safely deploying autonomous agents in decentralized environments where mistakes can be costly and irreversible.
“AI on blockchain has remained inaccessible due to compliance and safety concerns,” said Griffin Dunaif, CEO of Halliday, in an exclusive interview with VentureBeat. “Typically with smart contract development for AI agents, any minor mistake can cause a breach, leaving them vulnerable. For AI to operate onchain, there needs to be robust safety infrastructure where businesses have oversight of AI-enabled automations.”
How Halliday’s safety protocol makes AI agents viable for enterprise blockchain applications
Halliday’s core innovation, the Agentic Workflow Protocol (AWP), creates what the company calls “immutable guardrails” for AI agents operating on blockchain networks. These guardrails ensure that autonomous systems can execute tasks within strictly defined parameters without the risk of exploits or unintended actions.
“We’ve built the proper tooling with our workflow protocol to make safe AI possible with immutable guardrails onchain,” explained Dunaif. “The protocol ensures that no party, not even Halliday, can circumvent the guardrails placed on tasks.”
This approach could solve a fundamental challenge in AI development: how to allow autonomous agents to interact with financial systems and digital assets while maintaining security and compliance. By embedding safety constraints directly into the protocol layer, Halliday aims to make AI agents trustworthy enough for enterprise applications.
AI-powered treasury management and B2B automation already in production
Unlike many AI startups announcing funding before their technology reaches production, Halliday has already deployed its AI-enabled workflow engine with several high-profile partners, including DeFi Kingdoms, Core Wallet by Ava Labs, and ApeChain.
The company’s workflows enable AI agents to automate complex, multi-step processes like treasury management, recurring payments, and business-to-business transactions. These autonomous systems can operate across multiple blockchain networks while maintaining compliance with predefined rules.
“Halliday handles all the heavy lifting: protocol integrations like bridges and DEXs, data translation, and reliable multi-chain execution,” said Dunaif. “With workflows, teams can create breakthrough applications in hours, not years.”
Enterprise AI adoption accelerated by removing blockchain programming barriers
For enterprise customers, Halliday’s technology offers a path to leveraging blockchain networks and AI agents without specialized development teams or the security risks typically associated with smart contracts.
This could dramatically accelerate adoption of AI in financial services, where institutions have shown interest in autonomous systems but have been deterred by security and compliance concerns. According to Dunaif, Halliday offers a “10,000x development cost reduction,” potentially transforming AI-blockchain integration from a capital-intensive project to an operational expense.
“There’s opportunity to expand beyond web3 and bring our Workflow Protocol to fintechs and banks looking to enter the crypto arena, whether through stablecoin subscriptions, global yield products, or programmable treasury management,” Dunaif noted.
Will safe AI agents unlock the next wave of enterprise blockchain adoption?
The intersection of AI and blockchain has long promised powerful new business models. Autonomous agents that can execute complex financial transactions without human intervention could dramatically reduce costs and enable new services. However, the risk of rogue AI agents or exploitable code has limited enterprise adoption.
Halliday’s approach aims to solve this problem by creating a middleware layer that handles security and execution while allowing businesses to focus on defining the logic of their AI agents. This separation of concerns could make AI-blockchain integration more accessible to mainstream enterprises.
“We’re extending Stripe’s technology to be utilized by developers who are creating their own blockchains,” explained Dunaif when discussing how Halliday works with traditional financial infrastructure.
The future of enterprise AI: Automated workflows replace manual processes
With the new funding, Halliday plans to accelerate development of its AI workflow protocol and expand its team. The company has already attracted talent from leading technology companies, including Alphabet, Meta, Netflix, Stripe, and Compound.
Halliday Payments, a first-party application built on the protocol, demonstrates how AI agents can simplify complex processes. It offers an end-to-end payments solution that uses AI to handle the complexities of blockchain transactions, lowering the barrier for new users.
“By safely delegating workflows to autonomous systems, such as agents or software, teams can create breakthrough applications in hours, not years,” Dunaif said, describing his vision for how AI will transform enterprise operations.
As businesses continue to explore AI’s potential to automate complex workflows, solutions like Halliday’s that address the fundamental challenges of safety and compliance could play a crucial role in bringing these technologies to mainstream adoption.
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