Onchain trading firm Warlock.xyz develops systems for responsible order flow management in decentralized markets

Warlock.xyz – Cloudflare customer – (United States)

Innovators use .xyz domains to develop new infrastructure for finance, technology, and the decentralized web. AI-driven platform Halliday.xyz develops agentic protocol to streamline multi-chain digital workflows. Programmable datachain Irys.xyz introduces a model for onchain data interaction. VC firm Greenfield.xyz supports early-stage teams building decentralized infrastructure. In this week’s #WebsiteWednesday, we’ll introduce you to a software firm building onchain trading tools to help protocols recapture value from their own order flow: Warlock.xyz.

Introducing Warlock Labs: Onchain infrastructure with a focus on responsible order flow

Warlock.xyz is the online home of Warlock Labs, a software firm developing systems geared toward low-latency and high-fidelity data, with a specific focus on responsible onchain trading infrastructure. The company aims to address inefficiencies and imbalances in Ethereum’s order flow market by building tools that help protocols recapture value from their own data. In March 2025, Warlock Labs announced an $8M funding round led by Polychain Capital, with participation from Greenfield.xyz, Reciprocal Ventures, Symbolic Capital, Ambush Capital, and TRGC.¹

Shackleton: A toolkit designed to recapture value and improve DeFi execution

According to their website, Warlock Labs is developing a proprietary searcher-builder system called Shackleton. Designed for use with Ethereum-based protocols, Shackleton aims to help identify and recapture maximal extractable value (MEV), which refers to the potential profit from reordering or inserting transactions within a block. Shackleton includes:

• MEV detection across decentralized exchanges, lending platforms, and liquidity pools
• Optimized execution to reduce slippage and gas inefficiencies
• Value distribution tools that return MEV revenue to protocols
• Real-time monitoring aimed at preventing volatility-induced insolvency
• ZK-powered guarantees to prove the integrity of order flow processing

These tools are intended to reduce dependency on a small number of dominant block builders and return more value to protocol developers and their users.

Meet the team: A background in quantitative finance, crypto trading, and advanced systems engineering

Warlock Labs is founded by two pseudonymous MEV engineers, Grug (CEO) and Alcibiades (CTO). According to a post from Greenfield.xyz, both co-founders have backgrounds in quantitative finance and machine learning, and previously led successful crypto trading operations. ²Grug is credited with contributing to software used by over 40% of the Ethereum network, while Alcibiades has experience in infrastructure engineering at Bloomberg and DE Shaw. The broader team includes individuals with experience at Citadel, CERN, Tower Research, and Brookhaven National Laboratory.

Warlock.xyz: A domain name aligned with blockchain innovation

Warlock Labs uses Warlock.xyz for its digital home, aligning with a growing trend among blockchain and cryptography projects that adopt the .xyz domain to signal innovation and adaptability. As Warlock Labs works to build infrastructure for a more equitable and transparent DeFi market, the use of a concise and globally recognized domain helps reinforce the company’s focus on forward-thinking technology. You can learn more by following the firm on LinkedIn and X/Twitter @warlock_xyz, and by visiting Warlock.xyz.