In short
- Donut Labs raised $22 million to develop an AI-powered crypto buying and selling browser.
- The instrument merges automation, market evaluation, and safety in a single platform.
- Founder Chris Zhu says agentic browsers will quickly change into the default on-line.
AI browsers have gotten the subsequent frontier in how folks work together with the online—and crypto merchants simply obtained their very own. New York startup Donut Labs introduced on Monday that it has raised $22 million throughout pre-seed and seed rounds to develop what it claims is the primary agentic AI browser that may analysis, analyze, and execute trades autonomously.
Founder and CEO of Donut Labs, Chris Zhu, stated that the concept for the Donut browser grew out of frustration with current platforms after his workforce’s TikTok-based app was abruptly shut down.
“Browsers haven’t actually modified in 30 years,” Zhu advised Decrypt. “We needed to construct the most important entrance finish on the web—however try this for crypto.”
That have led Zhu to a broader realization that if AI is changing into the interface for all the pieces on-line, crypto wants a browser constructed for it.
“We noticed indicators that this agentic browser wave was beginning—OpenAI launched Atlas, Perplexity has Comet, and we needed to create one that might really deal with buying and selling,” Zhu defined.
The funding, led by Bitkraft Ventures, Sequoia China, Sky9 Ventures, Matrix Companions, Makers Fund, and Altos Ventures, positions Donut Labs among the many early gamers racing to redefine how AI and crypto merge.
Constructing the Agentic Browser
In line with Zhu, Donut’s AI browser is designed to know a person’s buying and selling context, synthesize knowledge from a number of sources, and carry out actions throughout exchanges—all inside the browser itself.
Zhu stated Donut’s system is structured with layered safety—modeled on the “ranges” utilized in Tesla’s self-driving software program. Duties vary from pure analysis to completely licensed transactions requiring a number of confirmations.
“The explanation immediate injection occurs in different browsers is as a result of they deal with HTML hyperlinks with not sufficient safety,” he defined.
To deal with this, Donut processes authorizations on the backend somewhat than simulating person clicks. The corporate additionally companions with key administration agency Turnkey to safeguard personal keys.
“We really don’t give the agent the power to click on into your different wallets,” Zhu stated. “Our pockets backend operates individually so the agent by no means sees your balances.”
How It Works
Behind the scenes, Donut makes use of an “open router” that dynamically selects the proper AI mannequin for every activity—from light-weight fashions for token swaps to superior reasoning techniques for advanced evaluation. The browser’s brokers draw on liquidity and pricing knowledge from sources like CoinGecko and Pyth, whereas custom-built instruments enable automated execution and analysis.
Zhu stated the corporate plans to unveil a full suite of merchandise—a standalone browser, extension, internet app, and cell app—to cowl “the total life cycle of your buying and selling profession.”
The Human Aspect
Will AI browsers make human merchants out of date? Zhu stated the other is extra doubtless:
“Proper now, quants are nice at high-frequency trades,” he stated. “However AI browsers know your complete context—they make it simpler so that you can do what you already do, throughout the web.”
He added that AI will finally change into a buying and selling equalizer somewhat than a menace.
“Over an extended sufficient time horizon, we do need to get to the purpose the place it’s simply me, myself, and my hundred quants,” he stated. “However the methods shall be distinctive to every particular person.”
As AI techniques evolve from chatbots to completely autonomous instruments, browsers might change into the principle interface for each human and machine exercise on-line. Zhu argues that crypto merchants—accustomed to automation and volatility—shall be among the many first to embrace that shift.
“Our species is searching for fast progress,” he stated. “Selecting AI to assist us get there is without doubt one of the best methods to evolve.”
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