Variational
VAR
An on-chain derivatives protocol aggregating multi-source liquidity
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About Variational
Variational is an on-chain derivatives trading protocol that facilitates peer-to-peer trading, clearing, and settlement of instruments such as perpetual futures, options, and other customized contracts. Its platform, Omni, targets retail users with a zero-fee model, while Pro serves institutional clients requiring customizable OTC-style agreements. The core value proposition lies in aggregating liquidity from centralized exchanges, DEXs, and OTC desks to offer deeper order books, and in settling all trades on-chain via isolated smart contracts, which reduces counterparty risk. The protocol addresses common market pain points: high trading fees, fragmented liquidity, and opaque risk management. By eliminating fees and ensuring transparent, auditable settlement, it lowers barriers for both retail and institutional participants. Over the past six months (March to September 2026), Variational has focused on launching and refining its Omni platform, expanding supported assets (including equities, commodities, and indices), and improving its RFQ-based matching engine. However, the project faces regulatory uncertainty across jurisdictions, and its reliance on market makers for liquidity could pose risks during extreme volatility. No major negative events were reported in the period, but the protocol's long-term viability depends on sustained liquidity and regulatory compliance.
Variational, an Arbitrum-based derivatives protocol, was founded in 2021 by Lucas Schuermann and Edward Yu, who previously ran the quantitative hedge fund Qu Capital and a proprietary trading firm. In October 2024, the project completed a $10.3 million seed round co-led by Bain Capital Crypto and Peak XV Partners, with participation from Coinbase Ventures and Dragonfly.
In January 2025, Variational launched its mainnet beta and the Omni retail trading application, introducing a Request-for-Quote (RFQ) model that aggregates liquidity from CEXs, DEXs, and TradFi market makers—a fundamental departure from Hyperliquid's order book approach, designed to solve the cold-start liquidity problem. In May 2026, the protocol secured $50 million in Series A funding led by Dragonfly, bringing total funding to over $60 million. Around the same period, Variational launched its Swaps market, introducing TradFi liquidity on-chain, and subsequently listed gold and Nasdaq 100 perpetual markets, marking its expansion beyond crypto into traditional asset classes. The team plans to bring over 100 new TradFi markets on-chain by summer 2026.
Looking ahead, Variational's token ($VAR) has not yet been issued, with 50% of the supply allocated to community incentives via a points system launched in December 2025, expected to conclude by Q3 2026.
Variational, an Arbitrum-based peer-to-peer derivatives protocol, has made significant strides in the past six months. In May 2026, it secured a $50 million Series A round led by Dragonfly, with participation from Bain Capital Crypto and Coinbase Ventures, following a $200+ billion cumulative trading volume and 50,000+ accounts since its January 2025 beta launch.
On July 6, 2026, Variational announced Swaps, a new on-chain product launching in Q3. Swaps leverages the Omni Liquidity Provider (OLP) vault, aggregating liquidity from centralized exchanges, decentralized exchanges, and TradFi dealers to serve as a unified counterparty. It uses a Request-for-Quote (RFQ) system to bypass the liquidity bootstrapping problem, enabling numerous markets without building order books from scratch.
Key features include bilateral trading (private liquidity streaming for larger trades with minimal slippage), predictable carry (~4.5% all-in financing costs), hybrid hours initially (traditional market hours, expanding to 24/7), and a cross-margin vision for a unified account across crypto, stocks, commodities, indices, and FX. The roadmap also includes listing 100+ additional TradFi markets (equities, indices, currencies) this summer, alongside existing perps on crypto, gold, silver, copper, and oil.
Co-founder & CEO: Lucas V. Schuermann. BS in Computer Science from Columbia University (Egleston Scholar), graduate coursework at Stanford. Former quantitative strategist at Goldman Sachs and software engineering intern at Google X. Co-founded Qu Capital in 2017, which was acquired by DCG, then served as VP of Engineering at Genesis Trading. Founded Variational in 2021.
Co-founder: Edward Yu. Met Lucas at Columbia University; together they founded Qu Capital, and he later served as VP of Quant Trading at Genesis Trading. He now co-leads Variational with Lucas.