Quick take:
Wasabi is a DeFi protocol on Ethereum and Blast that allows users to trade long-tail assets like memecoins and NFT with leverage.
The platform boasts over 18,000 traders who have generated more than $500 million in volume this year.
The company plans to use the fresh capital to expand its team of six to ten.
Wasabi, a DeFi protocol on Ethereum and Blast has announced a $3 million funding round led by Electric Capital.
The round also attracted participation from Alliance, Memeland, and Spencer Ventures, with Pudgy Penguins CEO Luca Netz, Magic Eden co-founder Zhouxun Yin, angel investor Santiago Santos, Cygaar, Zagabond, DCF God and Bob Loukas joining as angel investors.
The company claims to have more than 18,000 traders who have already generated over $500 million in transaction volume this year.
Wasabi co-founder Eren Derman told The Block that the protocol will use the funds to expand its team of six to 10, including hiring a smart contract engineer, back-end developer, quantitative engineer and head of operations.
Commenting on the reasoning behind the product, Derman said it is the first protocol to enable leveraged trading backed by actual assets. Wasabi’s on-chain perpetual futures mean that all trades are asset-backed, and this removes counterparty risk, he said.
“[It] is significantly different from conventional perp decentralized exchanges like Aevo and Hyperliquid, which rely on market makers to keep their synthetic prices feed pegged to the actual price of assets on-chain.”
Users can trade long and short, or stake memecoins and NFTs, with leverage of 2-3X available for more exotic assets, whereas the more established assets like ETH and USDB have up to 10x leverage,” said Derman.
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The post Wasabi Secures $3M to Enable Leveraged Trading for Memecoins and NFTs appeared first on NFTgators .