Markets
Arbelos Markets, Leading Crypto Derivatives Trader, Raises $28 Million Led by Dragonfly Capital
Arbelos Markets, a leading crypto trading firm founded by digital asset derivatives veterans Joshua Lim and Shiliang Tang, said on Wednesday it has raised $28 million in a “significantly oversubscribed” investment round.
The fundraising consisted of seed capital and debt financing led by crypto venture capital firm Dragonfly Capital. A wide range of investors also participated in the round: investment firms Room40 Ventures, Selini Capital and Breed VC, corporate partners FalconX, Circle Ventures, Paxos, P2 Ventures (formerly Polygon Ventures), Deribit, Chorus One, StarkWare and Immutable, and angel investors from Aevo, Cega, Talos, Amberdata and Framework, the press release listed.
The investment came as the digital asset industry continues its recovery from the 2022 crypto credit meltdown, which took down several companies such as BlockFi, Celsius and Three Arrows Capital. At the same time, more sophisticated and traditional players are entering this space as the asset class matures, making it more similar to traditional financial markets, leaving behind its retail-oriented beginnings.
Arbelos, incorporated in the British Virgin Islands, aims to fill the gap left after the carnage by meeting the liquidity and hedging needs of sophisticated investors who use crypto derivatives and options, Joshua Lim said in an interview with CoinDesk.
Before starting Arbelos in late 2023, Tang served as chief investment officer at digital asset quantitative investment firm LedgerPrime, while Lim was head of trading strategy at Galaxy and head of derivatives at now-defunct crypto lender Genesis, which also went bankrupt during the credit collapse.
Lim said a lack of transparency was one of the main reasons for the crypto credit crunch, with some companies submitting financial reports that were “outdated or fabricated,” hiding the true risks from their creditors.
The company aims to solve this problem with a so-called “transparency mechanism” that allows clients to independently and in real time verify the risk profile, balance sheet and exposure of Arbelos’ counterparty.
“Our fundamental principle [at Arbelos] it was how we could avoid what happened in the last cycle,” Lim said.
The company operates in centralized and on-chain derivatives and options markets, has become one of the largest options block liquidity providers, and its derivatives trading volume exceeded $25 billion in notional values during the first six months since its inception. creation.
Arbelos said it will use the funds raised from investors to expand its team, access new markets and offer more structured products.