DEX Bluefin to Roll Out Token After Securing $17M in Total Funding

The exchange says it has already seen more than $25 billion in trading volume since the start of the year, with monthly revenues topping $1 million.

Decentralized orderbook exchange Bluefin will launch its governance token in July, having now secured a total of $17 million in funding since being founded in 2020.

The exchange, which allows users to trade crypto perpetual swaps on the Sui network, also recently received an undisclosed amount of investment from trading giant Flow Traders ahead of the token unveiling. Bluefin will use the proceeds to expand beyond perpetual trading and develop a decentralized financial ecosystem, the firm said in a statement to CoinDesk.

Bluefin claims to be the leading derivatives exchange in the Sui network, having captured over 70% market share with its perpetual trading product. Its upcoming token, BLUE, will help the firm decentralize decision-making processes while also incentivizing users and contributors.

“Our vision is to accelerate the adoption of decentralized finance by bringing a sustainable, powerful, and user-friendly exchange to the market,” said Zabi Mohebzada, co-founder of Bluefin.

Decentralized exchanges (DEXs) became popular during the crypto winter after some large centralized platforms (CEXs), such as Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX, collapsed dramatically. DEXs are self-executing, meaning they can coordinate the trading of digital assets between users using automated algorithms and forgo the human element.

Perpetual swaps, which are unique to crypto, are financial products that are essentially futures contracts without an expiration date.

The BLUE token will have a maximum supply of 1 billion and an initial circulating supply of 116 million, according to a tokenomics document seen by CoinDesk. Investors and Bluefin's team will have a three-year vesting period with a lockup that will expire one year after the initial roll-out next month. It also plans to allocate 32.5% of the token for user incentives that will include airdrops, trading rewards, liquidity provisions and future growth initiatives, according to the document.

The DEX is also planning to launch an aggregator for trading spot digital assets and “Bluefin Pro,” which will offer cross-margin trading and faster executions.

Bluefin has raised funds from major hedge funds, including Brevan Howard Digital, Tower Research, Cumberland DRW, and Susquehanna International Group. The exchange said it has already seen more than $25 billion in trading volume since the start of the year, with monthly revenues topping $1 million.