Arbelos Markets, a crypto prime trading firm founded by industry veterans Joshua Lim and Shiliang Tang, has successfully raised $28 million in a funding round marked by significant oversubscription. This round, consisting of seed capital and debt financing, was led by Dragonfly Capital, a leading crypto venture capital firm.
A wide range of investors participated in the fundraising, underlining broad industry support. Notable contributors include investment firms Room40 Ventures, Selini Capital, and Breed VC, as well as corporate partners FalconX, Circle Ventures, Paxos, and others, as well as angel investors and organizations such as Deribit, Chorus One, StarkWare, and Immutable.
Arbelos Markets emerged at a time when the digital asset industry was recovering from the 2022 crypto credit meltdown that led to the collapse of many leading companies. As the environment matures and witnesses the entry of more sophisticated players, Arbelos aims to meet the liquidity and hedging requirements of institutional investors, especially in the space of crypto derivatives and options.
Led by Tang and Lim, who bring extensive experience from their roles at LedgerPrime and Genesis respectively, Arbelos prioritizes transparency as a crucial element in its operations. Lim emphasized the importance of transparency in preventing past crises and emphasized Arbelos’ commitment to providing real-time visibility into its risk profile, balance sheet and counterparty risk through a proprietary “transparency engine.”
Operating in centralized and on-chain derivatives and options markets, Arbelos has quickly established itself as a leading liquidity provider in the options block, with transaction volume exceeding $25 billion in the first six months of operation. The funds raised will facilitate team expansion, market expansion and the development of more structured products, signaling Arbelos’ desire to play a key role in shaping the future of crypto trading.