HoneyB raises $5 million to build a bitcoin income layer

HoneyB's developer has raised $5 million, and the two accounts do not agree on the investor beside Portal Ventures. The Block reported on October 20, 2026 that Nectar Group, the company building the Bitcoin (BTC) income platform HoneyB, had closed a $5 million seed round. A FinanceWire release that Markets Insider carried on October 21, datelined Dover, Delaware, announces the same sum for Nectar Group, Inc.

Together they describe a financed spread. Josh Gordon, co-founder and chief executive of HoneyB, told The Block the underlying product aims at around 10% a year, while HoneyB targets about 2% to 4% a year on the user's bitcoin after borrowing costs and fees. The shape is a collateralised borrow into a traditional income sleeve, closer to tokenised money-market share classes already on bank rails than to a reward for locking coins. The release states no return figure.

The investor list does not match

Both pages name Portal Ventures and Anchorage Digital Ventures. The Block says Portal Ventures led, with Peer Venture Partners, Anchorage Digital Ventures, an unnamed family office and angel investors participating, citing Nectar Group. The release says the round was led by Portal Ventures and Peer Ventures, with Anchorage Digital Ventures and various family offices and angels. Neither page says Peer Venture Partners and Peer Ventures are the same firm.

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The $30 million post-money valuation is Gordon's statement to The Block, not a line in the release. He said the round was a simple agreement for future equity, or SAFE, with a one-for-one token warrant, and that no investor received a board seat, an observer role or an advisory position. He dated the raise from the end of the fourth quarter of 2025 to a close at the start of the third quarter of 2026, and said Nectar was founded last October and has more than 12 employees. The release has none of that.

A loan, or a coin that does not move

Gordon told The Block the first strategy borrows stablecoins against bitcoin and puts them into U.S. Treasuries, fixed income, credit, gold, volatility and options. Collateral can sit in an onchain smart contract or in a three-party arrangement among borrower, lender and custodian. He named Anchorage Digital and BitGo as serving custodial clients. The release says institutions reach yield without moving Bitcoin from a qualified custodian or wrapping it off the Bitcoin network, and it does not describe a borrow.

"Bitcoin is a massive asset class, but the options for earning income on it remain limited. We see HoneyB as the orchestration layer between bitcoin and capital markets."

Josh Gordon, co-founder and chief executive of HoneyB, said that to The Block on October 20, 2026.

The release has institutions reaching income "without moving their Bitcoin." He told The Block: "Bitcoin is not accepted directly into institutional yield strategies at this time, so you will have to get to stablecoins one way or another to deploy to fixed income products." Short of stablecoins, he named only lending the bitcoin or trading options on it. Citi's Custody+ note still adds bitcoin without naming a key holder, and the qualified-custodian gap is the same constraint. "Actual results depend on strategy performance, borrowing costs and loan-to-value ratios. Returns are not guaranteed," he said. Platform fees on deployed capital are how he said HoneyB is paid.

One fund, two calendars

Both pages put the strategy on a fund from Simplify Asset Management, a registered investment adviser they each put at about $13.5 billion, tokenized by Alphaledger. The release calls Alphaledger a U.S.-regulated manager that owns a registered broker-dealer, and its summary line says Simplify ETFs rather than the body name. Only The Block, citing Gordon, names Amber Capital SPC as issuer. Krisna Patel, managing director at Simplify Asset Management, said in the release: "Simplify is excited to partner with HoneyB and Alphaledger to bring institutional-quality income strategies to the crypto ecosystem." Gordon named Bitwise, Lombard, Solv and Sentora as competing platforms. Neither page quotes them.

He told The Block that HoneyB plans to launch in the fourth quarter of 2026, institutions outside the United States first, U.S. institutions later, and a retail product in and outside the United States in the first quarter of 2027. The release says the first strategy "is expected to open in the coming weeks." The Block assigns the capital to product development, custody and financing integrations, legal and compliance, and distribution. The release says it builds the layer between Bitcoin and institutional capital markets. The release links honeybtc.com and simplify.us.

This article is informational analysis only and is not financial, investment, or trading advice. Cryptocurrencies are highly volatile and can lose substantial value rapidly. Past performance and historical patterns do not guarantee future results. Do your own research and consult a regulated financial adviser before making any investment decision.