Extended, On-Chain Perpetuals Exchange, Raises $12.5M in Strategic Round Led by eToro
Extended, an emerging on-chain perpetual futures exchange, has closed a $12.5 million strategic funding round. The investment was led by the global trading and investment platform eToro, with participation from firms including Jump Crypto.
Building Next-Generation On-Chain Trading Infrastructure
Founded by former Revolut employees and slated for a late-2024 launch, Extended is built on StarkWare's StarkEx scalability engine. The platform is designed to deliver a high-performance, low-cost on-chain environment for trading perpetual futures contracts.
Its ambition extends beyond being just another derivatives venue; it aims to establish a new layer of on-chain infrastructure that can democratize access to sophisticated financial markets worldwide.
Strategic Synergy: Bridging Wallets and Trading Ecosystems
This funding round is strategically significant following eToro's acquisition earlier this year of the self-custody wallet Zengo. Zengo utilizes Multi-Party Computation (MPC) cryptography to eliminate seed phrases, offering users a secure way to swap tokens, stake, and access DApps.
The investment thus represents a strategic partnership beyond capital. Extended, eToro, and Zengo will collaborate closely with two primary objectives.
- Expanding Global Access: Leverage Extended's trading infrastructure and Zengo's user-friendly wallet to simplify entry into complex financial products for a global audience, particularly in emerging markets.
- Exploring Asset Connectivity: Investigate pathways to bring traditional financial assets, such as stocks and ETFs, into decentralized trading environments, pioneering a new hybrid finance (HyFi) ecosystem.
The new capital will primarily fuel Extended's platform development and launch timeline, while deepening strategic integration with the eToro ecosystem to pave the way for broader asset onboarding and trading scenarios.