Exclusive

Layer 1 blockchain Vega Protocol activates on-chain futures after mainnet rollout

Quick Take

  • Vega Protocol activated its first on-chain markets after the launch of its alpha mainnet on May 10.
  • The team raised $43 million in a 2021 public token sale after publishing its whitepaper in 2018.

Vega Protocol, a Layer 1 blockchain focused on derivatives trading, has launched its first on-chain markets following the release of its alpha mainnet earlier this month.

The project's community members approved an on-chain governance vote to kickstart trading and take its markets live. This community vote also greenlit the use of the USDC and USDT stablecoins for deposit and withdrawal operations through an interoperability bridge with Ethereum.

From today, Vega Protocol will offer users the ability to create decentralized and permissionless markets. To start with, the network will only support cash-settled futures markets but it has plans to add spot, perpetual, and other types of markets in future stages.

Beyond its trading capabilities, the core team plans to introduce a browser wallet, allowing users direct in-browser access to the full Vega ecosystem. Additionally, the team plans to incorporate a software feature named Wendy, designed to provide Miner Extractable Value (MEV) protection to on-chain traders.

RELATED INDICES

After an extensive research and development phase spanning nearly five years, Vega launched on mainnet on May 10. The core team published the whitepaper for Vega in 2018 outlining a performance-optimized, application-specific blockchain built on the Tendermint proof-of-stake consensus mechanism.

In 2019, the team raised a $5 million seed round led by Pantera Capital. Then in 2021, the team conducted a community token sale on CoinList, raising $43 million.


© 2023 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

About Author

Vishal Chawla is The Block’s crypto ecosystems editor and has spent over six years covering tech protocols, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence and cloud computing. Vishal likes to delve deep into blockchain intricacies to ensure readers are well-informed about the continuously evolving crypto landscape. He is also a staunch advocate for rigorous security practices in the space. Before joining The Block, Vishal held positions at IDG ComputerWorld, CIO, and Crypto Briefing. He can be reached on Twitter at @vishal4c and via email at [email protected]