Markets
Ithaca Protocol Launches Beta Platform for Crypto Options Markets
Ithaca Protocol has gone live with its live beta platform, which it claims will set “a new standard for crypto options markets.”
Founded by a former Goldman Sachs partner and Amber Group executive and backed by Cumberland and Wintermute Ventures, Ithaca Protocol offers executable pricing on a wide range of options and structured products.
Ithaca is the first in the industry to provide executable pricing for over 250 different options, including vanilla options, digital options, options strategies, futures and structured products. The platform’s strong point is its auction-based matching engine, which allows more trades to be executed from the same number of orders than standard auction mechanisms. This allows users to customize 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 run verifiable instances of key components of the Ithaca ecosystem, including the matching engine, collateral optimization, and VAR engines. The platform architecture is based on off-chain matching, on-chain Arbitrum settlement and Axelar cross chain bridge.
“Today’s launch represents a milestone in our journey to transform the world of options and structured products,” said the Ithaca Protocol founding team. “With the increased liquidity now available and the financial engineering inherent in the Ithaca Matching Engine, more users will be able to execute their strategies reliably.”
In conjunction with the beta launch, Ithaca Protocol is introducing a formula-based airdrop program to incentivize liquidity, reward early adopters, and support ecosystem development. The first season will conclude with an airdrop event where participants can earn points by making transactions, placing orders, interacting on social media and participating in 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 Psycho angel investors, traderMayne , rookieXBT and Dentoshi.