TeleportDAO
9 known investors
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TeleSwap by TeleportDAO is a trustless cross-chain bridge that lets users swap and bridge assets such as BTC, WBTC, USDC, USDT and ETH between Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, TON and various EVM chains. It uses light-client technology to verify Bitcoin transactions on-chain and a collateralized "Locker" custodian system for economic security, targeting DeFi users.
Also known as Teleport DAO · TeleSwap
Founders & leadership
Investors · 9
Also in the syndicate · 3
Company profile
researched Aug 2026TeleportDAO is a blockchain interoperability company that operates a light-client bridge connecting a source chain to a target chain, allowing applications on the target chain to verify data belonging to the source chain. Verification is implemented as a smart contract (the Relay contract) that checks submitted data against the source chain's consensus rules, so the bridge does not depend on external validators, oracles or notary sets; anyone can submit data, and invalid submissions are rejected. The documented design goal is that bridge security tracks the security of the underlying chains, and that smart contracts on one chain can confirm state such as balances or transfers on another, supporting cross-chain applications beyond simple asset transfer.
The company's main consumer-facing product is TeleSwap, a Bitcoin bridge and DeFi front end that lets users swap and bridge BTC, WBTC, USDC, USDT, ETH and other assets across Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, TON, Arbitrum, Base, Polygon, Optimism and BNB Smart Chain. Alongside light-client verification, TeleSwap uses a "Locker" system of custodians who post collateral exceeding the BTC they hold and are slashed, with proceeds redistributed to users, if they misbehave. Earlier products included teleBTC, a decentralized Bitcoin wrapper on Polygon, and a planned trustless marketplace for Bitcoin Ordinals NFTs. The protocol's contracts and tooling — including Bitcoin/EVM bridge contracts, a BLS12-381 implementation and a TeleSwap CLI — are published in public repositories, along with audit reports.
Founding story
TeleportDAO was founded in February 2022 by Niusha Moshrefi (CEO), Mahyar Daneshpajooh and Ali Saheli. Moshrefi and Daneshpajooh studied electrical engineering at Sharif University of Technology in Iran and worked in its blockchain labs, with Moshrefi's academic work focused on light clients for proof-of-work blockchains and Daneshpajooh contributing to CarChain, a decentralized carpooling protocol; both later completed the UBC Blockchain Graduate Pathway in Vancouver. Saheli is a repeat founder who started Foro Technologies in 2013 and sold it to Fundamental Applications Corp. The three left prior roles to work on the bridge full time.
Business model
TeleportDAO operates a permissionless cross-chain bridge protocol used directly by end users and integrated by third-party wallets and aggregators, and positions its bridge as infrastructure that developers can build cross-chain applications on top of.
The documentation describes a bridge fee and reward structure within the light-client protocol, with relayer nodes compensated for submitting source-chain data; TeleSwap charges bridge fees that the company presents as lower than centralized exchange charges.
Traction
The TeleSwap interface reports cumulative bridge volume of about $448.09M across roughly 469,580 swaps and 14 supported networks, with continuous recent swap activity displayed; the protocol is reachable through several major wallets and DeFi aggregators.
Latest developments
Development continues on protocol repositories, including a Rust TeleSwap CLI and Bitcoin–EVM bridge contracts, and on DefiLlama adapters for volume and bridge reporting. TeleSwap now supports bridging between Bitcoin and Ethereum, Solana, TON, Arbitrum, Base, Polygon, Optimism and BNB Smart Chain.
▸Full profile — market position, technology, go-to-market, geography, history, risks & controversies
Market position
TeleportDAO positions itself as a trust-minimized alternative to validator- or notary-based bridges, which its investors and documentation associate with single points of failure and roughly US$1.3B in cross-chain hack losses during 2022.
Light-client, smart-contract-based verification of source-chain data rather than reliance on third-party validators or oracles, combined with over-collateralized Locker custodians whose stake is slashed and redistributed to users in the event of misbehavior.
Technology
The core is a light-client bridge implemented as smart contracts: a Relay contract on the target chain verifies that data submitted by permissionless relayer/Teleporter nodes complies with the source chain's consensus rules, avoiding validator- or notary-based trust assumptions. Bitcoin transactions are verified natively on-chain. Economic security for asset transfers comes from Lockers, custodians who over-collateralize the BTC they hold (stated as 150% backed) and are slashed for misbehavior. The stack is implemented largely in Solidity, TypeScript and Rust, and the protocol has been audited by Quantstamp.
Go-to-market
Direct access through the TeleSwap web application plus distribution via integrations with wallets and aggregators including MetaMask, Trust Wallet, Rango and Rubic, and earlier integration into Liquality Wallet as a swap provider.
Retail DeFi users bridging into and out of native Bitcoin without accounts or KYC, and developers building cross-chain applications; the protocol is also distributed through wallets, lending applications, NFT platforms and DeFi aggregators.
Geography
Headquartered in Vancouver, Canada, with founders originating from Sharif University of Technology in Iran and ties to the University of British Columbia; the protocol itself is chain-based and available permissionlessly.
History
Founded in February 2022, the team publicly released early work including a BLS12-381 implementation and Bitcoin–EVM smart contracts in 2022-2023 and published audit reports. In February 2023 the co-founders were profiled by Blockchain@UBC ahead of a mainnet launch, and in March 2023 the company announced a US$2.5M seed round, at which point it had built teleBTC on Polygon and TeleSwap and was integrating with wallets, lending applications and NFT platforms. The product has since broadened from Bitcoin–Polygon into a multi-chain Bitcoin bridge spanning 14 networks.
Risks & controversies
The company operates in a segment its own investor commentary describes as loss-prone, citing about US$1.3B lost to cross-chain bridge hacks in 2022. Security depends on the correctness of the light-client contracts and on Lockers remaining sufficiently collateralized, and the public documentation site was last updated roughly two years before the current product scope.
Compiled by commissioned research from 7 cited public sources — announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
Key figures
latest reportedCompany-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed — not independently audited.
Timeline · 3
launches, deals, and filingsThe Vancouver-based cross-chain infrastructure company announced a US$2.5M seed round led by AppWorks and DefinanceX with participation from Quantstamp, CoinList, Candaq Fintech Group, SNZ Holding Limited and Gate Labs, earmarked for product development and team expansion.
$2.5M source ↗
TeleportDAO built teleBTC, a decentralized Bitcoin wrapper on Polygon, and TeleSwap, a service on top of its bridge for wrapping, unwrapping and trading between Bitcoin and Polygon without third parties.
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
In the news
▸Research sources · 7
primary sources listed
- TeleportDAOteleportdao.xyz · web
7 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does TeleportDAO do?
- TeleportDAO builds TeleSwap, a light-client cross-chain bridge for moving Bitcoin and other assets between blockchains.
- Who founded TeleportDAO?
- TeleportDAO was founded by Niusha Moshrefi.
- Who are TeleportDAO's investors?
- TeleportDAO's investors include AppWorks Ventures, Candaq Fintech Group, DefinanceX, AppWorks, Quantstamp, SNZ Holding.