Perpetual Protocol is a decentralized derivatives exchange built on Ethereum and Optimism, headquartered in Taiwan. The project launched in 2019 under the working name Strike Protocol before rebranding. It focuses on perpetual futures contracts – derivatives with no expiry date that track the price of underlying assets. The protocol pioneered a virtual automated market maker (vAMM) model on Ethereum mainnet before migrating its V2 architecture, codenamed Curie, to the Optimism Layer 2 network in 2022 to reduce gas costs and improve transaction throughput.
The team raised approximately $1.8 million in a 2020 seed round backed by Multicoin Capital, CMS Holdings, and several other crypto-native funds. The PERP governance token launched in late 2020 and is used for protocol governance and fee distribution. At peak activity in 2021, Perpetual Protocol processed over $1 billion in weekly trading volume, ranking among the top decentralized perpetuals venues globally. Public information about total assets under management or a formal investment fund structure is limited – the project operates primarily as a protocol rather than a venture fund, though it holds treasury assets in PERP and stablecoins.
Notable investments
Perpetual Protocol has made a small number of ecosystem investments and grants, with a reported portfolio of five projects. Specific deal names and sizes have not been disclosed publicly in detail. The investments appear focused on DeFi infrastructure, derivatives tooling, and projects building on top of or alongside the Perpetual Protocol ecosystem. Public information about individual portfolio companies is limited at this time.
Team
- Yenwen Feng – Co-founder and CEO. Previously worked in software engineering and entrepreneurship in Taiwan. Known within the DeFi community for early writing on perpetual contract mechanics.
- Shao-Kang Lee – Co-founder and CTO. Background in distributed systems and blockchain engineering.
The broader team is distributed across Taiwan and remote locations. The protocol is governed in part by PERP token holders through an on-chain governance process hosted via Snapshot.
Recent activity
Since the broader DeFi derivatives market shifted through 2023 and 2024 – with competitors such as dYdX, GMX, and Hyperliquid capturing significant market share – Perpetual Protocol has worked on protocol improvements and cost optimization on Optimism. Trading volumes declined from the 2021 highs as on-chain liquidity fragmented across chains. The team has explored additional chain deployments and new product iterations, though major announcements have been limited. Public information about strategic moves in the 12 months prior to mid-2025 is sparse.
Perpetual Protocol remains a notable early example of decentralized perpetual futures on Ethereum-compatible chains. Its vAMM model influenced subsequent protocol designs. The core challenge going forward is competing with faster, cheaper platforms – particularly Hyperliquid's off-chain order book – while maintaining the decentralization properties that distinguish on-chain venues. More detail on the project's current roadmap and treasury strategy is available through the official website and community governance forums.