Connor Flanagan
Connor Flanagan is the co-founder and chief operating officer of Birch Hill HoldingsBirch HillBirch Hill is a New York-based financial services business providing market curation, credit assessment, product structuring and institutional services for onchain credit and tokenized assets.Open the full entry, a New York onchain credit company. He previously worked on institutional risk systems on BlackRockBlackRockBlackRock is a publicly traded investment management company headquartered in New York, founded in 1988 by Larry Fink and seven others and listed on the New York Stock Exchange (ticker BLK); its businesses include the iShares family of exchange-traded funds and the Aladdin investment and risk management platform. As of June 30, 2026, its assets under management totaled $15.3 trillion.Open the full entry’s Aladdin platform and co-founded the onchain protocol analytics firm Unit Zero Labs with Jack ForlinesJack ForlinesJack Forlines is the co-founder, chief technology officer and chief risk officer of Birch Hill Holdings, a New York onchain credit company. He previously worked on institutional risk systems on BlackRock’s Aladdin platform and co-founded the onchain protocol analytics firm Unit Zero Labs with Connor Flanagan.Open the full entry.
Contents4 sections
Key facts
Early Career: BlackRock and Digital Assets
He spent more than four years at BlackRock, including work on its Aladdin risk platform, before roles at Digital Currency GroupDigital Currency GroupDigital Currency Group (DCG) is a crypto asset investment and holding company headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, founded by Barry Silbert in 2015. It invests in blockchain startups with permanent capital and owns subsidiaries including the digital asset manager Grayscale. In 2022, its crypto lender Genesis suffered losses after major client Three Arrows Capital defaulted and filed for bankruptcy the following year, leaving DCG and Silbert facing a lawsuit by the New York Attorney General, an SEC penalty, and multiple civil suits.Open the full entry and the analytics firm Flipside.[1]
He and Jack Forlines spent years building risk and portfolio systems together at BlackRock.[2]
He then moved into digital asset data and infrastructure.[3]
Venture: Unit Zero Labs
He and Jack Forlines co-founded Unit Zero Labs, a research firm focused on onchain protocol analytics.[4]
The two researched onchain lending protocols at the firm, now called Birch Hill Labs.[5]
February 2026Pre-seed Round
When Birch Hill announced a $2.5 million pre-seed round in February 2026, he was its chief operating officer.[6]
Sources
- Goldman, BlackRock Alumni Raise $4 Million to Put Farm and Apartment Loans Onchain (opens in a new window)
- Building the Regulated Path for Credit Onchain (opens in a new window)
- Birch Hill raises $2.5m for onchain lending (opens in a new window)
- Birch Hill raises $2.5 million pre-seed round led by ParaFi Capital and Castle Island Ventures for institutional onchain credit infrastructure (opens in a new window)
- Birch Hill's $2.5M Pre-Seed Round (opens in a new window)
- Birch Hill Raises $2.5 Million Pre-Seed For Onchain Lending And Tokenized Asset Markets (opens in a new window)