Flying Tulip, a venture by DeFi developer Andre Cronje, has raised $200 million in a seed round. The team plans to establish an exchange that integrates spot and derivatives trading, lending, stablecoins, and insurance into one system.
The round was conducted in the form of a SAFT with a project valuation of $1 billion (FDV). Investors include Brevan Howard Digital, CoinFund, DWF Labs, FalconX, Hypersphere, among others.
The project aims to raise up to an additional $800 million through a public sale of FT tokens at the same valuation. The sale will take place on Flying Tulip’s own platform.
“Buyback Right” for Investors
A key feature of the round is the “on-chain buyback right.” Investors can burn FT at any time to reclaim their initial capital in the asset they contributed, such as Ethereum. Cronje stated that this model protects investors from losses while maintaining “unlimited growth potential.”
The funds raised will not be spent directly. The team plans to place them in DeFi protocols like Aave and Ethena. An expected annual yield of 4% could generate about $40 million per year. These funds will be used for project development, user incentives, and token buybacks.
Cronje noted that past experiences prompted the creation of this model. Pressure from token prices forces short-term decisions that harm the protocol. The buyback mechanism alleviates this stress.
Team members will not receive an initial token allocation. Their compensation will come from asset buybacks on the open market, funded by protocol revenues.
A “Full-Cycle” Exchange
According to Cronje, Flying Tulip is not just a DEX, but a “reconstruction from scratch” of all key DeFi services.
Upon launch, the exchange will operate on Ethereum, Avalanche, BNB Chain, Sonic, and Solana networks. Initially, the platform will be deployed on Sonic, offering zero-fee trading. The exact launch date remains unknown.
Earlier in August, Sonic Labs approved a plan to enter the U.S. capital market.
