Variational Secures USD 50 Mn Series A Funding Led by Dragonfly

Variational, a decentralised derivatives trading protocol, has raised USD 50 million in a Series A funding round led by Dragonfly, with participation from Bain Capital Crypto, Coinbase Ventures, Peak XV Partners, and other investors.

The funding comes alongside the launch of the platform’s first Real-World Asset (RWA) markets, allowing users to trade perpetual contracts on select commodities while managing crypto assets in a single account. The initial rollout includes assets such as gold, silver, copper, and WTI crude.

The company aims to address liquidity challenges in the RWA segment by introducing a different architecture. Instead of building new order books for each asset, Variational aggregates liquidity from both traditional financial markets and on-chain sources. This approach is designed to provide broader market access and improve price efficiency.

“You can’t rebuild forty years of traditional market depth from scratch on a crypto order book,” said Lucas Schuermann, CEO of Variational. “We’re bringing that model on-chain by aggregating liquidity from where it already exists.”

Founded in 2023 and headquartered in the Cayman Islands, Variational offers zero-fee derivatives trading by sourcing liquidity from exchanges and market makers. The platform claims to have processed over USD 200 billion in trading volume across more than 50,000 accounts since its private beta launch in early 2025.

Investors say the model could help scale RWA trading more efficiently. “Variational’s model sidesteps the need to bootstrap liquidity from scratch by directly integrating traditional market depth,” said Haseeb Qureshi, Managing Partner at Dragonfly.

The company plans to expand its offerings in the coming months by adding more asset classes, including equities and foreign exchange, and by integrating liquidity directly from traditional finance sources.