Singapore, the Republic of Singapore, April 1st, 2024, Chainwire
Merkle Trade, a decentralized trading platform that offers crypto, forex and commodities trading with leverage up to 1,000x, announced the close of a $2.1M seed round led by Hashed and Arrington Capital, with additional participation by Morningstar Ventures, Amber Group, Aptos Labs, Re7 Capital and Dorahacks.
Merkle Trade aims to transform trading into an enjoyable and social activity accessible to all. The platform combines gaming elements and social trading to democratize the trading experience. This raise, coming on the heels of its launch at the end of 2023, will fuel the protocol’s growth initiatives as it continues to innovate as the leading decentralized perpetuals trading platform.
“Considering the highly volatile nature of crypto assets, being able to place directional trades in a non-custodial manner is profoundly compelling to all types of users in this industry” said Ryan Kim, Co-founder & Partner at Hashed. “In this context, we are confident that Merkle.trade’s unique focus on the long tail of traders will unlock a new market with great potential.”
Michael Arrington, Founder of Arrington Capital, also mentioned that “The Merkle Trade team has a distinctive vision for enhancing trading experiences for both existing web3 traders as well as underserved markets of new entrants,” l. He added, “Emphasizing speed, user-friendly interface and immersive gamification, Merkle Trade is eliminating barriers to entry and demonstrating its product market fit through significant early traction in trading volume and user expansion.”
The emphasis on gamified trading has proven to be transformative, leading to Merkle Trade’s substantial growth and success. With 90,000 traders and 5 billion of trading volume within just 4 months since inception, Merkle Trade has become a leading perp DEX on Aptos and ranks within top-10 across the whole decentralized derivatives ecosystem. As an omnichain platform, Merkle Trade currently works with Ethereum, Polygon, Arbitrum, Optimism, Binance Smart Chain, and Avalanche.
Merkle Trade gamifies the trading experience through its unique level-up system, where active trading unlocks new levels, and rewards traders with loot boxes and exclusive NFT items with randomized trading benefits and point boosts. Additionally, traders can engage in weekly trading missions to earn points, with missions ranging from beginner to high-stakes levels, each offering corresponding rewards.
“Expanding DeFi and social connectivity on-chain is core to onboarding billions of users into the next phase of the internet: an accessible, secure, and decentralized web,” said Mo Shaikh, Co-Founder & CEO of Aptos Labs. “Merkle Trade embodies that mission and is positioned to become the protocol of choice for trading and GameFi in markets around the world.”
This round of funding will empower the team to further enhance the gamifying and social aspects of the platform. Plans include an in-app marketplace for NFT items, trading battles, and copy trading features. Additionally, the roadmap involves substantial improvements to the onboarding process, which allow non-web3 native users to engage with the platform without custodial wallets.
About Merkle Trade
Merkle Trade is a decentralized trading platform that offers crypto, forex and commodities trading with leverage up to 1,000x. With simplified trading UX and gamified trading features, the platform caters to both seasoned traders and newcomers alike, ensuring an unparalleled trading experience for all. On Merkle Trade, users not only benefit from exceptional perpetual DEX performance but also experience the excitement of competition and gaming. Traders can earn points, level up, and receive immediate rewards through loot boxes, all while trading on your own or alongside their peers.
About Hashed
Hashed is a team of blockchain experts and builders based in Seoul, Singapore, Bengaluru, and Silicon Valley. We believe that decentralization can transform not only the global economy but the very fabric of the internet. Our mission is to accelerate the mass adoption of blockchain by investing our resources and empowering a new wave of entrepreneurs and innovators to create this future. We participate as core technical contributors to global infrastructure, and we’ve built a network of projects and people that connect industry pioneers with the knowledge and resources necessary to unlock the potential of blockchain.
About Arrington Capital
Arrington Capital is a digital asset management firm primarily focused on blockchain-based capital markets. The firm, founded in 2017 by TechCrunch and CrunchBase founder Michael Arrington, TechCrunch CEO Heather Harde and Geoffrey Arone, has invested in hundreds of startups around the world. Arrington Capital is a seasoned, international team composed of Silicon Valley veterans and operators with deep venture capital experience and crypto native roots. Arrington Capital’s first fund was Arrington XRP Capital, and has expanded to multiple funds over time. For more information on Arrington Capital, visit https://www.arringtoncapital.com.
About Aptos Labs
Aptos Labs, co-founded by Mo Shaikh and Avery Ching, is dedicated to creating better network tooling and seamless usability to bring the benefits of decentralization to the masses. Having now raised over $400M, Aptos Labs is backed by top-flight investors, including a16z, Jump Crypto, Binance Labs, Dragonfly, PayPal Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz and Franklin Templeton Investments.
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