Andre Cronje, the DeFi legend behind projects like Yearn Finance and Fantom’s early boom, has just announced a blockbuster raise for his latest venture, Flying Tulip—a full-stack on-chain exchange that’s not just another perp DEX but a comprehensive DeFi powerhouse.
The project closed a $200 million seed round at a $1 billion fully diluted token valuation (FDV), drawing heavy-hitting investors without a single lead. This sets the stage for an even bigger $800 million public sale at the same valuation, potentially totaling $1 billion in funding to fuel its launch.
$200M raised via Simple Agreements for Future Tokens (SAFTs). No team allocation upfront—compensation comes from revenue-funded open-market buybacks.
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Up to $800M for the $FT token, hosted directly on Flying Tulip’s platform no third-party ICO sites. Official addresses will drop exclusively on their site pre-launch.
A who’s-who of crypto VCs, including Brevan Howard Digital, CoinFund, DWF Labs, FalconX, Hypersphere, Lemniscap, Nascent, Republic Digital, Selini, Sigil Fund, Susquehanna Crypto, Tioga Capital, and Virtuals Protocol.
Cronje’s baked in a perpetual put option on-chain redemption right for all participants—private or public—letting token holders redeem for their original principal (e.g., in ETH or ftUSD) at any time.
It’s downside protection with unlimited upside, funded by yields from deploying capital into protocols like Aave, Ethena, and Spark. As Cronje puts it: Recurring yield funds Flying Tulip’s growth and incentives, securing downside protection through a perpetual put while preserving unlimited upside via the $FT token.
Built on the high-speed Sonic Labs blockchain Cronje’s own L1, optimized for dApps with low fees and 90% of fees routed to devs, Flying Tulip aims to merge CEX-level performance with DeFi’s trustlessness.
It’s a unified cross-margin system stacking: Spot Trading: AMM-based liquidity with synthetic delta-neutral pools. Oracle-free contracts, up to 1,000x leverage, rivaling Hyperliquid’s volume dominance.
Capital efficiency across “all of DeFi” in one non-custodial interface, with built-in compliance for institutions. In a market craving real innovation post-bear, Flying Tulip feels like Cronje channeling his inner mad scientist: high-risk, high-reward engineering that could redefine perp DEXes.
The $1B FDV at seed is bold but with Cronje’s track record—Yearn hit $5B+ MCAP—and Sonic’s dev-friendly upgrades fee subsidies, account abstraction, it’s primed for viral adoption. Expect the public sale to ignite FOMO.
Tulip’s ambition to integrate spot trading, perps up to 1,000x leverage, oracle-free, lending, stablecoins ftUSD, and insurance into one cross-margin system could erode the silos plaguing DeFi today.
This isn’t incremental—it’s a ground-up rebuild echoing Cronje’s 2020 Deriswap vision, but hardened with volatility-aware mechanics and synthetic delta-neutral liquidity pools.
Unified risk management across primitives could slash fragmentation costs, making DeFi more competitive with CEXs like Binance or Coinbase. Built-in OFAC screening, tax reporting, and non-custodial wallets lower barriers for TradFi entry, signaling DeFi’s maturation beyond retail speculation.
This could accelerate the “DeFi Summer 2.0” narrative, with analysts eyeing $10B+ TVL within months of launch. Architectural complexity means high execution hurdles—Cronje’s “testing in production” history raises flags for exploits, though the lean 15-person team and revenue-funded ops aim for sustainability.
The raise’s structure—SAFTs with a perpetual put burn $FT for principal redemption in ETH/ftUSD anytime—flips the script on extractive models. No leads, no upfront team cuts, and yields ~4% from Aave/Ethena deploys funding buybacks create a self-sustaining loop, targeting $40M annual revenue.
However, the $800M public sale on their platform no ICO middlemen might ignite retail frenzy, echoing tulip mania quips. Sonic Labs Takes Center Stage Launching “hardened” on Sonic (Cronje’s L1, ex-Fantom) with zero-fee trading via subsidies positions it as DeFi’s high-speed backbone.
Multi-chain support ETH, AVAX, BNB, SOL but Sonic gets first-mover perks. $S Token Surge: Announcement coincided with a 5% $S rally and 190.5M token airdrop, signaling “Sonic season.” TVL could double if Flying Tulip captures 10% of Hyperliquid’s $5B+ perp volume.
90% fee routing to devs + account abstraction draws builders, potentially turning Sonic into a dApp hub rivaling Solana. Solana/ETH integrations hedge bets, but Sonic’s edge in low fees could siphon liquidity from costlier chains.
In a post-bear market craving utility, this validates DeFi’s rebound—total funding up 150% YTD per recent reports.Bull Case: If live “sooner than people think,” it catalyzes a perp/derivs boom, with ftUSD enabling seamless yields. Could add $50B+ to DeFi TVL by EOY 2026.
In sum, Flying Tulip could breakthrough as DeFi’s “SAP of yield”—scalable, aligned, and institution-ready—or wilt under its lofty valuation. Cronje’s track record Yearn’s $5B+ peak tilts bullish.