Decentralized derivatives protocol Vega raises $5 million from Coinbase Ventures and others

Vega Protocol, which is building a decentralized network for trading derivatives, has raised $5 million in a new funding round.

The round was led by Arrington Capital and Cumberland DRW, with participation from Coinbase Ventures, ParaFi Capital, CMS Holdings, and many others.

Vega has raised the money via a token sale as a strategic investment round, founder Barney Mannerings told The Block. With fresh capital at hand, Vega looks to continue developing the protocol and hopefully launch its mainnet by this summer, said Mannerings.

Vega claims to be building a capital-efficient decentralized derivatives trading protocol that would allow anyone to create and launch a derivatives market.

Mannerings said capital-efficient means a trader's capital is used efficiently and that the protocol does not need any more funds to be locked up for margins than is necessary. "This is incredibly important for traders as the cost of capital to fund a position can make the difference between whether it's worth trading or not," he said.

There are currently around 25 people contributing to Vega, and the project is looking to expand its engineering and community teams further, said Mannerings.

The round brings Vega's total funding to date to "a bit under $12 million," Mannerings told The Block. The project had previously raised a $5 million seed round in October 2019.