Vega secures $5 million in a seed funding round led by Pantera

• Vega will integrate various blockchain protocols, Ethereum being the first.
• The company is also planning to release its first private testnet.  

Vega, a blockchain startup based in Gibraltar, has raised $5 million in a seed funding round for developing a decentralized derivatives protocol. Pantera Capital led the round. Other backers include Ripple’s venture arm Xpring, Hashed, NGC Ventures, gumi Cryptos Capital, Rockaway Blockchain, KR1, Eden Block, Focus Labs, Greenfield One, Monday Capital, and RSK Ecosystem Fund. Barney Mannerings, the founder of Vega protocol, commented on the achievement saying:

“We support the right to collaborate and trade freely. Privileged institutions and gatekeepers have for too long kept the financial system rigid and rigged in their favor. It is neither desirable nor necessary for market participants to be subject to profiteering, monitoring, and control by those privileged institutions.”

Vega is aiming to develop a protocol that is platform-agnostic to integrate various blockchain protocols. Ethereum will be the first one to be integrated into its protocol. It will offer a secure platform to the traders for non-custodial decentralized margin trading in the peer-to-peer markets. The company believes that the expense associated with the traditional trading techniques will be reduced. Plus, the execution of trades will be 10 to 100 times faster.

Vega is a layer-2 architecture of blockchain, unlike Bitcoin and Ethereum’s layer-1 protocols. The company also announced that it is presently testing the first version of its protocol and is planning to release its first private testnet. The company will also use the protocol to launch a staking model for the traders.  

Paul Veradittakit, a partner at Pantera Capital, said:

“In Vega, we see a project with the potential to disrupt and transform the financial landscape with decentralized margined products. The team’s vision for the future of finance is a level playing field in which all people can participate. That vision is integral to the blockchain ethos and represents everything we are fighting to enact.”