Research

Solana's perps market lags Hyperliquid, a gap rooted in architectural constraints rather than purely application-layer failures. Three new protocols, Phoenix, Bulk, and Bullet, are attacking the execution problem from different points on the composability-performance spectrum. We benchmark execution costs across venues, isolate the L1 constraints holding makers back, and assess whether Solana's infrastructure roadmap and these new entrants can close the gap before purpose-built chains lock in their liquidity advantage.

Research

Collateralized Onchain Infrastructure Lending (COIL), sometimes referred to as InfraFi, lowers the capital cost and operational friction for deploying physical infrastructure.

Research

Neobanking is evolving from a category defined by digital banking features into a broader battle for the user’s primary financial relationship, where stablecoin-first platforms may have the greatest edge in cross-border and emerging-market use cases.

Research

Derive appears better positioned than at any point in its five-year history, with options volume at all-time highs, RFQ activity breaking out, and BTC options market share beginning to rise against Deribit. Perps have also become an important complementary product, supporting hedging flow and broader exchange utility, even as options remain the protocol’s core and higher-margin business. At the same time, asset coverage is becoming a clearer differentiator, with newer markets such as HYPE already surpassing $100M in monthly options volume. The investment case for DRV, however, remains highly dependent on execution, particularly the protocol’s ability to expand its taker base and convert recent momentum into more durable growth.