tl;dr
Variational, a peer-to-peer derivatives trading protocol on Arbitrum, raised $1.5 million in strategic funding following its $10.3 million seed round and launch of the Omni mainnet private beta. Omni, built on Variational Protocol, offers zero-fee perpetual futures trading across hundreds of markets...
Variational, a peer-to-peer derivatives trading protocol on Arbitrum, has secured $1.5 million in strategic funding following its impressive $10.3 million seed round and the launch of its Omni mainnet private beta. Omni, powered by Variational Protocol, enables zero-fee perpetual futures trading across hundreds of markets, utilizing request-for-quote infrastructure and its proprietary market maker, the Omni Liquidity Provider (OLP). Since its beta introduction in January, Omni has onboarded thousands of users, processed over $100 million in volume, and delivered an 87% annualized yield for the OLP vault.
To expand its user base organically, Variational launched a referral program allowing users to invite friends to Omni’s private beta, unlocking referral codes after achieving volume milestones. This initiative aims to build a strong community foundation and reward early supporters. Key strategic investors include Mirana Ventures, Caladan, Zoku Ventures, Coinbase Ventures, Bain Capital Crypto, and Dragonfly.
Looking ahead, Variational’s roadmap for 2025 includes implementing loss rebates, rolling out Omni’s public mainnet, launching incentives, and opening the OLP vault for community deposits. Founder and CEO Lucas V. Schuermann emphasized the importance of aligning with partners to drive long-term growth, while Caladan’s co-founder John Gu highlighted the platform’s differentiated pricing that favors retail traders over high-frequency trading flows.
Variational continues to innovate in the derivatives trading space by automating safe bilateral trading of options, futures, and perpetuals. Backed by a veteran team with deep expertise in market making and software engineering, the protocol’s unique design and zero-fee environment position it as a promising player in decentralized finance.