In little more than a decade, crypto has moved from the edges of the internet to the center of global finance. Bitcoin is now held by nation-states and held in ETFs. TradFi institutions from BlackRock to JPMorgan have entered the ecosystem. The industry has matured across every layer: custody, data, infrastructure, and liquidity.
The Tie
Introducing Bridge: the first messaging platform built for crypto institutions
By Hari Iyer
November 12, 2025
The Problem: An Industry That Outgrew Its Tools
But one thing hasn’t changed - the way we communicate.
Telegram became crypto’s default meeting ground. It gave the industry a place to organize before the rest of the world took it seriously. But the same tool that made crypto open has also made it vulnerable.
Why Existing Systems No Longer Work
For institutions, apps like Telegram are fundamentally misaligned with how professional markets operate. Impersonation is pervasive. Employees, founders, and entire companies are regularly replicated by scammers using identical names and profile photos to initiate conversations or request transactions. With no system for identity verification, there is no reliable way to confirm who is on the other end of a message.
The compliance challenge is even greater. In regulated markets, every business communication must be supervised and archived. Banks and brokerages have paid billions in fines for using non-compliant messaging tools. Telegram offers no archiving, no administrative oversight, and no ability for firms to retain or review messages, thereby making it unusable for large institutions.
Operational issues compound the problem. Conversations live in personal accounts rather than company-owned systems. When an employee leaves, so do external relationships and communication history. There are no audit trails, no continuity, and no centralized record of what a firm has said or agreed to.
Crypto has matured into an institutional market, but its communication layer remains retail. Hundreds of billions move through exchanges, custodians, and funds each day, yet the infrastructure connecting them is still unverifiable, non-compliant, and outside organizational control.
Introducing Bridge
Crypto has grown up yet the way the industry communicates hasn’t kept pace with what it has become. Bridge exists to close that gap. It is a verified, compliant, and institution-ready messaging platform which brings structure, accountability, and security to the conversations that move markets.
What sets Bridge apart:
- Verified members – Members on Bridge are verified through domain authentication and KYB, removing impersonation and fraud risk.
- Compliant Records – Full integration with Global Relay for archiving and supervision, the same standard used by banks and financial institutions.
- Business Continuity – Chats and contacts belong to the organization, not the individual. When an employee leaves, communication history and relationships remain with the organization and can be transferred to another team member.
- Counterparty Discovery – A verified directory of institutions in crypto and TradFi. This enables institutions to find and engage real counterparties instantly.
- Team-Based Messaging – Firms can message entire departments (eg - sales, ops) with automatic membership updates as staffing changes.
- Transaction Logging – In-chat commands allow participants to share and confirm transactions directly, creating instant audit trails.
- Administrative Oversight – Centralized controls let compliance and admin teams manage permissions, and ensure communication remains within policy.
- AI-powered intelligence – In-chat access to The Tie’s market intelligence allows users to retrieve on-demand insights without leaving the conversation.
- Company Announcements – Follow verified institutions directly, receiving updates and announcements from selected companies without needing to join multiple chats.
Bridge replaces the fragmented, unverifiable chat systems the industry has relied on with professional infrastructure - the foundation for how crypto institutions will communicate going forward.
The Best CRM in Crypto that Isn’t Even a CRM
Bridge isn’t just a messaging platform - it’s the most accurate source of business intelligence in digital assets.
That’s what happens when you combine The Tie’s data with verified company chat.
- Companies maintain their own records. In crypto, people frequently change jobs. Firms control their profiles and employee rosters directly inside Bridge, so you always see who’s actually there today, not six months ago.
- The most enriched company dataset. Financing rounds, investors, SEC filings, news, and announcements are powered by The Tie’s market-leading data.
- One live view of every counterparty. When you click into a company, you see who they are, who works there, how much they’ve raised, and what they’ve been doing - all in one place, right next to your chats.
Bridge becomes a verified ecosystem where relationships, data, and communication converge.
The Future of Institutional Communication
Crypto has reached a point where every part of its infrastructure is catching up with institutional standards. Communication is the final piece.
Bridge completes that picture - a verified, compliant, and accountable environment that reflects what crypto has become, not what it used to be.
Bridge launches January 2026. Join the waitlist today: https://chat.thetie.io/
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