Opyn
AcquiredRaised Since FeaturedUniswap, but for perps
Decentralized perpetual futures protocol enabling permissionless deployment of perp markets on any ERC-20 token pair.
About
Opyn is a decentralized options and perpetual futures protocol on Ethereum, originally launched in 2019 as the first DeFi options platform. Founded by UC Berkeley graduates Zubin Singh Koticha, Aparna Krishnan, and Alexis Gauba, the protocol pioneered innovations like Squeeth (squared ETH) โ the first Power Perpetual โ and evolved into Opyn Markets, enabling permissionless deployment of perpetual futures markets on any ERC-20 token pair. The platform has processed over $16 billion in total notional volume and reimagines traditional financial primitives including stablecoins, Uniswap LPs, and options-like products as tradeable perpetuals. Opyn raised a $2.16M seed round led by Dragonfly Capital in 2020 and a $6.7M Series A led by Paradigm in 2021. In July 2025, Coinbase acqui-hired Opyn's leadership team โ CEO Andrew Leone and Head of Research Joe Clark โ to expand its on-chain derivatives capabilities.
DailyDropout Take
Opyn was one of the earliest DeFi options protocols we spotted โ three UC Berkeley students building decentralized hedging tools when the space was still nascent. They went on to invent Squeeth (the first Power Perpetual), process $16B+ in volume, and ultimately got acqui-hired by Coinbase in 2025 to bring their derivatives expertise to the largest US crypto exchange.
Discovery signal: First-mover in DeFi options from a strong UC Berkeley founding team, early Dragonfly Capital backing, novel financial primitive (Power Perpetuals)
What Makes Them Unique
Opyn invented Power Perpetuals (Squeeth) โ a novel DeFi primitive that packages convex payoffs into a perpetual instrument โ and built the first permissionless perp deployment platform, enabling anyone to create derivative markets on any ERC-20 pair without centralized gatekeepers.
$16B+
Total Notional Volume
$10.9M
Total Raised
Coinbase (July 2025)
Acqui-hired by
Target Markets
Founders
Zubin Singh Koticha
Co-Founder & CEO
UC Berkeley graduate who co-founded Opyn in 2019. Led the development of the first DeFi options protocol and pioneered Power Perpetuals.
Aparna Krishnan
Co-Founder
UC Berkeley graduate and co-founder of Opyn. Helped build the protocol from inception through its evolution into perpetual futures.
Alexis Gauba
Co-Founder
UC Berkeley graduate and co-founder of Opyn. Also co-founded She256, a nonprofit promoting diversity in blockchain.
Key People
Previously: VP at Nomura (VIX & structured volatility trading)
Previously: Opyn Markets research lead
Funding History
Lead: Dragonfly Capital
Lead: Paradigm
Investors
Firms
Individual Investors
Former CTO, Coinbase
Founder, Compound
Co-Founder, Scalar Capital
Founder, Synthetix
Founder, Aave
Press & News
DeFi Hedging Startup Opyn Raises $2.16M Seed Round Led by Dragonfly Capital
Opyn closes $6.7mm funding round led by Paradigm
DeFi options platform Opyn raises $6.7 million Series A led by Paradigm
Coinbase acquires Opyn's leadership team in bid to expand onchain derivatives
Moving markets onchain: Welcoming Opyn Markets to Coinbase