Ithaca Protocol has gone live with its live beta platform, which it says will set “a new standard for crypto option markets.”
Founded by an ex-Goldman Sachs partner and Amber Group executive, and backed by Cumberland and Wintermute Ventures, Ithaca Protocol offers executable prices across a wide range of options and structured products.
Ithaca is the first in the industry to provide executable prices for over 250 different options, including vanilla options, digital options, option strategies, forwards, and structured products. The platform’s selling point is its auction-based matching engine, which allows more trades to be filled from the same number of orders compared to standard auction mechanisms. This enables users to tailor their exposure for various market scenarios.
The beta launch follows the completion of Ithaca’s Open Alpha phase and represents a step towards decentralization. Soon, on-chain actors will be able to verifiably run instances of key Ithaca ecosystem components, including the matching engine, collateral optimization, and VAR engines. The platform’s architecture is based on off-chain matching, Arbitrum on-chain settlement, and Axelar cross-chain bridging.
“Today’s launch is a major milestone in our journey to transform the world of options and structured products,” the Ithaca Protocol founding team stated. “With deeper liquidity now available and the financial engineering inherent in the Ithaca Matching Engine, more users will be able to execute their strategies reliably.”
To coincide with the beta launch, Ithaca Protocol is introducing a formula-based airdrop program to incentivize liquidity, reward early adopters, and support ecosystem development. Season One will conclude with an airdrop event where participants can earn points by executing transactions, submitting orders, engaging on social media, and joining campaigns.
Ithaca Protocol has raised $2.8 million to date, with Cumberland and Wintermute Ventures leading the pre-seed round in Q4 2023. Other participants include Room40, Andrew Keys, Ghaf Capital, Enjinstarter, Merit Circle, Tradedog, Axelar co-founder Georgios Vlachos, TenSquared managing partner Stan Miroshnik, Woodstock general partner Pranav Sharma, BFF managing partners Mansoor and Aly Madhavji, Existential VC managing partner Yoeri Krom, and angel investors Psycho, traderMayne, rookieXBT, and Dentoshi.
