High Bit
High Bit
Initialized Capital
Azura: Building an Onchain Brokerage
40 minutes Posted Apr 16, 2026 at 4:12 pm.
Azura built a unified application for trading across multiple blockchains from one interface. You can trade tokens across Solana, Ethereum, Base, Arbitrum, Blast, and more without jumping between wallets, bridges, and apps. Try it: app.azura.xyzIn this episode of High Bit, Initialized managing partner Brett Gibson talks with Jackson Denka, founder and CEO of Azura, about building an onchain trading platform that aims to feel more like a traditional brokerage while staying self-custodial. They dig into why crypto trading is still fragmented — and what Azura is doing about it.Jackson explains why DeFi is powerful but still hard to use, what it takes to unify DEXs and bridges into a single trading experience, and why cross-chain execution is such a difficult technical problem. They also discuss why he believes value in crypto will accrue at the application layer, why Azura built more of its stack in-house, and what it would take for crypto to disappear into the backend.Chapters:
One venue for every asset
What Azura builds
Jackson’s origin story
Why DeFi is hard to use
Why the app layer wins
Why onchain is next
One app across chains
Why this is so hard
Cross-chain execution
Hiring in DeFi
App revenue and DEX growth
Removing gas and networks
Self-custody, simpler UX
Building the stack in-house
How Azura uses LLMs
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Azura built a unified application for trading across multiple blockchains from one interface. You can trade tokens across Solana, Ethereum, Base, Arbitrum, Blast, and more without jumping between wallets, bridges, and apps. Try it: app.azura.xyzIn this episode of High Bit, Initialized managing partner Brett Gibson talks with Jackson Denka, founder and CEO of Azura, about building an onchain trading platform that aims to feel more like a traditional brokerage while staying self-custodial. They dig into why crypto trading is still fragmented — and what Azura is doing about it.Jackson explains why DeFi is powerful but still hard to use, what it takes to unify DEXs and bridges into a single trading experience, and why cross-chain execution is such a difficult technical problem. They also discuss why he believes value in crypto will accrue at the application layer, why Azura built more of its stack in-house, and what it would take for crypto to disappear into the backend.Chapters:(00:00) One venue for every asset(00:46) What Azura builds(01:07) Jackson’s origin story(03:13) Why DeFi is hard to use(05:39) Why the app layer wins(09:23) Why onchain is next(13:05) One app across chains(15:45) Why this is so hard(17:12) Cross-chain execution(21:12) Hiring in DeFi(22:36) App revenue and DEX growth(25:44) Removing gas and networks(27:01) Self-custody, simpler UX(30:07) Building the stack in-house(33:13) How Azura uses LLMs(39:52) What’s next for AzuraFollow Jackson and Azura:X@jacksondenka@AzuraTradeLinkedInhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/jacksondenka/https://www.linkedin.com/company/azuraxyz/