# Joseph Kelly

> Joseph Kelly is the Austin-based co-founder and CEO of Unchained, a bitcoin financial-services company built around collaborative custody. A college dropout who co-founded big-data startup Infochimps and sold it to CSC, Kelly later reunited with longtime collaborator Dhruv Bansal to create Unchained in 2016. His story runs from three teenage years aboard a family sailboat to a business that reported securing more than 100,000 BTC, employing about 140 people, and crossing $1 billion in loan originations.

- **Role:** Co-founder and CEO at Unchained
- **Organizations:** Unchained, Infochimps, Perfect Timing
- **Education:** Attended; left before completing a degree, The University of Texas at Austin
- **Known for:** Co-founded Infochimps, a data-technology company acquired by CSC in 2013., Co-founded Unchained in 2016 and developed a suite spanning collaborative custody, trading, loans, retirement accounts, inheritance and wealth services., Raised a $60 million Series B for Unchained led by Valor Equity Partners in 2023.

## Career timeline

- **Teenage years** — Lived with his family aboard a sailboat for three years, an experience he says taught self-reliance and widened his view of how people live and use money.
- **2008-2009** — After leaving UT Austin and running a residential contracting company, joined the early Infochimps project as big-data and cloud-computing tools were emerging.
- **2013** — Infochimps was acquired by CSC; Kelly and Dhruv Bansal remained with the acquirer for roughly another year to year and a half.
- **2016** — Co-founded Unchained with Dhruv Bansal in Austin, initially focusing on financial services for long-term bitcoin holders.
- **2017** — Unchained made its first private bitcoin-backed loan in June and launched publicly in November.
- **2018** — Unchained announced a seed financing of nearly $3 million to expand its crypto-backed lending platform.
- **2021** — NYDIG led a $5.5 million equity seed round and made an initial $50 million lending commitment to Unchained.
- **2022** — Kelly testified to the Texas Blockchain Work Group on bitcoin, custody and the state's energy interests; later that year he announced a roughly 15% workforce reduction and accepted responsibility for the hiring decisions behind it.
- **2023** — Unchained raised a $60 million Series B led by Valor Equity Partners and said it was securing about $4 billion in bitcoin by year end.
- **2025** — Kelly said Unchained had grown to about 140 people and helped secure more than 100,000 BTC; he also discussed the company's Bitcoin Legacy Project and bitcoin-only focus in public interviews.
- **2026** — Unchained reported that its lending desk had crossed $1 billion in originations and expanded Kelly's Last Free Americans series on self-custody and property rights.

## Achievements

- Co-founded Infochimps, a data-technology company acquired by CSC in 2013.
- Co-founded Unchained in 2016 and developed a suite spanning collaborative custody, trading, loans, retirement accounts, inheritance and wealth services.
- Raised a $60 million Series B for Unchained led by Valor Equity Partners in 2023.
- Led Unchained as it reported helping secure more than 100,000 BTC and growing to approximately 140 employees by 2025.
- Oversaw an Unchained lending desk that reported crossing $1 billion in total originations by 2026.
- Delivered testimony to the Texas Blockchain Work Group in 2022 on self-custody and the state's bitcoin-related interests.

## Latest updates

- **2026-01** — Kelly reported that Unchained's lending desk had crossed $1 billion in originations and reiterated that loan collateral would not be rehypothecated.
- **2026-01** — He highlighted the launch and expansion of The Last Free Americans, a content series connecting self-custody with constitutional property rights.
- **2025-10** — In an Index podcast interview, Kelly discussed Unchained's growth to about 140 employees, more than 100,000 BTC secured and the Bitcoin Legacy Project.
- **2025-05** — Kelly gave a long-form Build With Bitcoin interview on Unchained's origin, its bitcoin-only focus, company culture, fundraising and philanthropy.

## Links

- Website: https://unchained.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/josephkelly
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/josephkelly
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/unchainedcap

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/joseph-kelly
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-09-27