PsyOptions Raises $3.5M for Options Liquidity Mining and NFT Derivatives

A Solana-native options platform built by twin brothers Tommy and Taylor Johnson has closed its initial fundraising round today – the first step towards a host of unique options products including derivative-based liquidity mining and non-fungible token (NFT) options.

Liquidity mining is a DeFi (decentralized finance) mechanism in which participants supply cryptocurrencies into liquidity pools, and being rewarded with fees and tokens based on their share of the total pool liquidity.

According to a press release provided to CoinDesk, PsyOptions has closed a $3.5 million raise led by Alameda Research, with additional participation from CMS Holdings, Ledger Prime, MGNR, Wintermute and Airspeed18.

In an interview with CoinDesk, the founders said they focused on participants known for liquidity provision and market making.

“The majority of this round was all strategic liquidity providers. They have all agreed to provide liquidity and we’ll have a few more coming online soon,” said Tommy.

Likewise, Taylor noted that not all participants had the infrastructure ready to provide liquidity on Solana, but that the team is sharing knowledge on not just their platform but also Serum, the order book-based exchange on which PsyOptions is built.

“It’s been a two-way street,” said Taylor.

The team will be using the funds to expand on new product types, which might be novel in decentralized finance: liquidity mining options and NFT options.