Ventuals | The Next-Gen DeFi Where You Can Trade Pre-IPO OpenAI & SpaceX

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In today's financial markets, the greatest returns lie dormant in one place: the pre-IPO market for private companies.

OpenAI, SpaceX, Stripe—the value of these era-defining companies grew explosively, far beyond what was seen post-IPO. However, only a select few, such as venture capitalists (VCs) and institutional investors, could reap the rewards. For us individual investors, it was strictly "off-limits."

Ventuals is here to shatter this impenetrable wall with blockchain technology.

What Ventuals aims to do is more than just provide access to private stocks. It takes an innovative approach by turning a company's "valuation"—not its "actual stock"—into a financial instrument (perpetual futures).

What does this make possible?

  • 📈 Go long (buy) if you think the value will rise, or go short (sell) if you think it will fall.
  • 💰 Target significant returns from a small amount of capital with up to 10x leverage.
  • 🌐 Trade 24/7, anytime, anywhere, by anyone.

In essence, Ventuals is creating the world's first "sentiment barometer," a tool that reflects the real-time value of private companies, powered by the collective wisdom of market participants.

Ventuals' ambitious challenge is powered by three key technologies.

① The Foundation: The Zero-Gas, Ultra-Fast Hyperliquid Blockchain

Ventuals is built on Hyperliquid, an L1 blockchain specialized for DeFi trading. This enables a zero-gas, split-second trading experience on par with centralized exchanges (CEXs). To use an analogy, Ventuals isn't building its own stock exchange. Instead, much like how BlackRock develops ETFs (financial products) to be traded on the NYSE, Ventuals focuses on creating a new financial product—the "valuation of private companies"—on top of the superior infrastructure that is Hyperliquid.

② The Core: The Optimistic Oracle that Prices the Priceless

The biggest challenge is: "How do you determine the price of a private company that isn't actively traded?" To solve this, Ventuals developed its proprietary "Optimistic Oracle."

It works like a crypto-powered "price discovery game":

  1. Propose: Anyone can propose a valuation, such as "OpenAI's valuation is $XX," by staking collateral.
  2. Wait: If no one objects within a certain period, the price is optimistically considered "correct."
  3. Challenge: If someone believes the price is wrong, they can stake their own collateral to challenge it.
  4. Resolve: The dispute is settled by a vote, and the winning side is rewarded.

This is a groundbreaking invention that transforms subjective, off-chain information into reliable, on-chain price data through the economic incentives of its participants, without relying on a central authority.

③ The Gateway: Easy for Beginners with Privy Integration—Just Use Your Email!

Ventuals solves one of DeFi's major pain points: cumbersome wallet management. By integrating the wallet infrastructure "Privy," users can start trading instantly just by logging in with their email address or Google account. Even without deep crypto knowledge, anyone can use the platform as intuitively as any Web2 service.

Ventuals doesn't fit neatly into any existing category.

FeatureVentualsTraditional Platforms (e.g., Forge Global)Synthetic Assets (e.g., Synthetix)Prediction Markets (e.g., Polymarket)
AssetValuation of private companiesActual shares of private companiesGold, crypto assetsOutcome of events
AccessPermissionless (Open to all)Accredited investors onlyPermissionlessPermissionless
MechanismValuation derivativesDirect trading of sharesSynthetic assetsBetting on outcomes
Price DiscoveryGenerated by proprietary OracleBased on negotiationSourced from external OraclesBased on market odds

Key takeaway: The true genius of Ventuals lies in its ability to generate a price for assets that have no reliable price feed, created from scratch within the protocol itself. This is a one-of-a-kind feature that no other project offers.

When assessing a project's credibility, the team and its backers are paramount. Ventuals is led by siblings Alvin Hsia and Emily Hsia.

They previously founded Shadow.xyz, a data infrastructure platform for developers, and successfully raised a $9 million seed round led by one of the most prestigious VCs in the crypto industry, Paradigm.

The fact that Paradigm is once again betting on their vision with Ventuals signifies more than just a financial investment. Paradigm is known for its deep, research-driven, long-term investments. Their continued support for the siblings is a powerful testament to the importance of the problem Ventuals is solving and the team's exceptional ability to execute.

Ventuals is still in its early stages, which means this is the biggest opportunity for us.

Future Token Utility (Speculation)

While there's no official announcement, a future token is expected to have the following roles:

  • Governance: Voting rights to decide on new listings, etc.
  • Security: Used as collateral in the Optimistic Oracle.
  • Revenue Sharing: A portion of trading fees distributed to holders.
  • Liquidity Incentives: Rewards for liquidity providers.

Airdrop Potential and How to Qualify

Ventuals is currently running a free-to-join testnet.

The team has officially hinted that "top contributors during the testnet period may benefit in the future." This strongly suggests a high probability of a "retroactive airdrop," where early users who test the project and provide valuable contributions will be rewarded with free tokens.

Your Action Plan:

  1. Visit the official website: https://testnet.ventuals.com/trade
  2. Create an account: Easily sign up with your email or Google account.
  3. Get test funds: You will automatically receive testnet USDC upon registration.
  4. Trade actively: Try long, short, and leveraged trades on assets like OpenAI and SpaceX. Your trading volume and frequency might be considered for a future snapshot.
  5. Provide feedback: Submitting bug reports and suggestions for improvement can further boost your contribution.

Furthermore, since Ventuals operates on Hyperliquid, there are whispers that this activity could also make you eligible for an airdrop of Hyperliquid's own token ($HYPE). It’s a two-for-one opportunity!

Ventuals is not just another new exchange. It's an audacious endeavor to democratize the private equity market—a sacred ground of TradFi (Traditional Finance)—using the power of the blockchain.

  • A powerhouse team and backer (Paradigm)
  • Ingenious technology to discover prices for "priceless" assets
  • A zero-gas, lightning-fast trading experience

With this perfect fusion, Ventuals is poised to be a pivotal step for DeFi in capturing the enormous real-world financial markets.

We are now witnessing the dawn of this new era. By participating in the testnet, you have the chance to be more than a mere spectator—you can become an early contributor and reap the rewards of the future.

Disclaimer

  • This article is created for informational purposes only and should not be used to solicit the sale, purchase, or underwriting of cryptocurrencies, securities, or other financial products, nor should it be considered an invitation to engage in such transactions, or constitute financial or investment advice.
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