Rho Labs, the developer of Rho Protocol, the world’s first cryptonative rates exchange, today announces that it has secured $4M in seed funding to further expand the capabilities of its platform. Rho enables interest rates trading for a wide range of cryptonative and professional investors. With a total value of open contracts exceeding $500 trillion, rates are the largest single asset class in global financial markets. Funding was led by CoinFund, one of the earliest and most experienced cryptonative investment firms, with participation from Auros, Flow Traders, and other existing investors including Speedinvest.

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Alex Ryvkin, Founder of Rho Labs commented:

“We are very grateful to CoinFund and all our investors for their trust and support. Since our launch in 2022, we have observed an evolution of crypto markets with rates, especially perp funding and staking, becoming a critical component of crypto traders’ portfolio returns. With the backing of some of the most reputable VCs in TradFi and Web3 and some of the most respected liquidity providers in the space, we are well-positioned to execute our vision of building a robust and reliable rates market for the blockchain ecosystem, contributing to its maturity and RWA future-readiness.”

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With perpetual future funding, staking, and lending rates all in one venue, Rho offers highly capital efficient trading. It has turned perpetual funding, the most important family of rates in crypto, into a liquid tradable asset class, opening up a raft of new trading opportunities for leveraged trading, basis trading, and enhanced yield strategies. Rho’s trading capabilities are also particularly suited to institutions, as well as ETF and stablecoin issuers. Since its beta launch in June last year, Rho has facilitated over $7 billion of notional volume.

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Speaking about their investment, Alex Felix, Co-Founder and Chief Investment Officer of CoinFund commented:

"We are thrilled to support Rho Labs as they fill a critical gap in the crypto ecosystem with a marketplace of perpetual products to normalize funding and forward rates between CeFi and DeFi. Rho Labs is built by capital markets professionals to serve the budding credit opportunity. We strongly believe in Alex and his team as sophisticated institutional players to deliver the future of rate derivatives in crypto.”

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Julien Auchecorne, Head of Ventures at Auros, added

“At Auros, we are deeply embedded power users of the market and experienced volatility risk managers. Interest rate volatility is one of the greatest hurdles to our ability to deploy risk. Unpredictable cost of capital and inadequate hedging mechanisms remain huge hurdles by virtue of the fact that they limit the ability of institutional traders to manage their risk. Rho is developing a solution to these hurdles that will accelerate market adoption on increasingly robust foundations.”

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Michael Lie, Global Head of Digital Assets at Flow Traders, also commented:

“Flow Traders is proud to support Alex and the Rho team in their mission to bring interest rate derivatives on-chain. With over two decades of experience in electronifying traditional asset classes, we recognize Rho’s pivotal role in bridging a $500 trillion market on-chain while unlocking foundational products and risk management strategies for corporations, professional traders, and the broader DeFi ecosystem. Our investment reflects our commitment to advancing financial technology that enhances market efficiency and liquidity, and as institutional adoption accelerates, Rho is scaling at the perfect time to lead the evolution of on-chain interest rate derivatives.”

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About Rho Labs

Rho Labs is the developer of Rho Protocol, the world’s first cryptonative interest rates market. The platform uniquely offers trading of staking, lending, and perpetual future funding rates in one venue, in a secure, efficient, and compliant manner, suitable for a wide array of cryptonative and professional traders.

For more information, visit https://www.rho.trading/

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About CoinFund

CoinFund is one of the world's first cryptonative investment firms and a registered investment adviser founded in 2015. The firm champions the leaders of the new internet, powered by foresight as active investors to achieve extraordinary outcomes. CoinFund invests in seed, venture, and liquid opportunities within the blockchain sector with a focus on digital assets, decentralization technologies, and key enabling infrastructure.

For more information, visit www.coinfund.io

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About Auros

Auros is a leading global market-making and algorithmic trading firm founded by seasoned industry veterans with over 20 years of experience. Auros executes billions in daily notional turnover, leveraging advanced liquidity solutions to stabilize markets and foster growth across the digital asset ecosystem. Beyond its trading expertise, Auros offers a suite of tailored services to support token projects throughout their lifecycle, including its distinctive Strategic Market Making service, DeFi, and on-chain engineering solutions, bespoke OTC execution, and strategic investment support. These capabilities empower Auros' partners to confidently navigate the complexities from TGE to growth and beyond.

For more information visit https://www.auros.global/

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About Flow Traders

Established in 2004, Flow Traders is a leading multi-asset market maker that has been publicly listed on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange since 2015. The firm expanded into digital assets trading in 2017, focusing on centralized exchanges before expanding its operations to include over-the-counter trading, options trading and decentralized finance. Additionally, Flow Traders strategically invests in builders and teams driving the convergence of centralized and decentralized finance.

For more information visit https://www.flowtraders.com/

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Media Contact

Sophie Arnold
Email: Sophie@rholabs.io