Start 7-day trial
All articles

Crypto options protocols: 17 on NAUT, 9 backed by investors

By NAUT Research · · 6 min read

17 Crypto options protocols 9 with an investor round on NAUT, records read 13 November 2026. Logos: Thetanuts Finance, Opyn, Siren, ArrowMarkets, Spin, Lyra Finance, Kibo Finance, Hedget, Aevo, Derive, Deribit, Panoptic, SignalPlus, CVEX, Spreads Finance, Syrupal Protocol.

NAUT tracks 17 crypto options protocols, platforms and options DEXs whose own NAUT description says they trade or build options, read on 13 November 2026. 9 of them hold at least 1 investor round on NAUT's record, led by Thetanuts Finance with an $18M seed in March 2022, and 7 hold no round at all.

How this list was built: NAUT read 24 company rows that its options search turned up and kept the 17 whose stored description names an options protocol, platform, AMM or exchange. 7 came out, each for a reason of its own: 2 (Hegic and Rysk Finance) have an empty stored description, so their own row cannot place them; 1 (Ribbon Finance) describes structured products; 1 (Sandmark) describes an options analytics tool; 1 (Cega) describes exotic derivatives; and 2 (Bitune and Ethora) were dropped because NAUT's research found no current outside source describing either one as an options product. NAUT put 17 claims about 15 of the 24 companies to outside sources: 9 were confirmed, 5 were not found and 3 were contradicted. 13 of the 17 listed companies had at least 1 claim checked; Spreads Finance, Syrupal Protocol, CVEX and BaseVolApp were never read outside NAUT. Every amount below is NAUT's record unless a source is named. NAUT holds Lyra Finance and Derive as 2 separate rows; research found no official statement linking them, so they count as 2 here.

Which crypto options protocols have raised money?

9 of the 17 crypto options protocols on NAUT hold a seed, Series A, strategic or named funding round. The table ranks them by the largest investor round on NAUT's record; token sales (IDO and IEO) are counted in the rounds column but never ranked.

Protocol Rounds Largest investor round
5 $18M seed, Mar 2022
2 $6.7M Series A, Feb 2021
2 $4M round, Mar 2021
5 $4M Series A, Mar 2024
1 $3.75M seed, Feb 2022
2 $3.3M seed, Jul 2021
1 $1.5M seed, Nov 2021
4 $1M strategic, Sep 2020
4 Left out, see below
1 None ($50K IEO only)
0 None on record
0 None on record
0 None on record
0 None on record
0 None on record
0 None on record
0 None on record

Aevo holds 4 rounds on NAUT, but its amounts are left out because the outside sources NAUT checked did not support the stored figures. Derive's only round is a $50K IEO in January 2025.

How much did crypto options protocols raise in their largest round?

Largest investor round on NAUT's record, 8 options protocols
  1. Thetanuts$18M
  2. Opyn$6.7M
  3. Siren$4M
  4. Arrow$4M
  5. Spin$3.75M
  6. Lyra$3.3M
  7. Kibo$1.5M
  8. Hedget$1M

Aevo stays out of the chart because its stored amounts did not hold up against outside sources.

Who backed each funded options protocol?

These are the backers on NAUT's record, plus the leads that outside reporting names.

GSR, QCP Capital and Robot Ventures each appear as a backer at 3 of the 9 on NAUT's record. Of the 7 with no round on record, Deribit is the outlier: Coinbase completed its acquisition of the derivatives exchange on 14 August 2025, in a deal reported at about $2.9B.

What this tells a BD team

  • 17 options teams is a short list you can work in a week: each company's NAUT page shows its team, socials and rounds.
  • 9 of the 17 have founders, a co-founder or a CEO on NAUT with their own page, so you can start with a named person.
  • The 7 with no round on record include Deribit, SignalPlus and Panoptic, so read "no round" as a gap in NAUT's record, never as proof a team never raised.
How a BD team can work this list
  1. Pick the venue typeOrder book exchanges like Aevo and Deribit, or AMMs like ArrowMarkets, Spreads Finance and Derive.
  2. Open the team17 founders and CEOs have their own NAUT page, listed in the next section.
  3. Check the money9 of the 17 hold an investor round, from $1M at Hedget to $18M at Thetanuts Finance.
  4. Reach outVerified channels unlock on any paid NAUT plan.

What this tells a founder raising for an options protocol

  • GSR, QCP Capital and Robot Ventures are the most frequent crypto options investors on NAUT's record, each backing 3 of these 9 teams.
  • Paradigm appears at 2 of them on NAUT's record (Aevo and Thetanuts Finance) and led Opyn's Series A in outside reporting.
  • DeFi options funding on NAUT's record is small: the 8 ranked rounds run from $1M to $18M, and 7 of the 8 closed between 2020 and 2022. Only ArrowMarkets holds a ranked round from 2024.
How a founder can use this list
  1. Shortlist backersStart with GSR, QCP Capital and Robot Ventures, each on 3 options teams on NAUT.
  2. Read their portfolioEach fund's NAUT page lists its rounds with amounts and dates.
  3. Size the askSeed rounds on NAUT's record run from $500K at Hedget to $18M at Thetanuts Finance.

Who runs the crypto options protocols on NAUT?

NAUT holds 17 founders, co-founders and CEOs with their own page at 9 of the 17 companies. Titles are as stored on NAUT.

Anyone listed can ask NAUT to remove their page at https://naut.so/legal/data-deletion.

Related reading on NAUT: Perp DEX funding: 8 deals, $39.5M, 2 teams took 65% and Decentralized exchanges list: 196 DEXs on NAUT, 37 run perps.

Can you pull this data through the NAUT API?

Yes: GET https://api.naut.so/v1/projects?q=options with the header Authorization: Bearer $NAUT_KEY searches NAUT's project rows for options teams, and GET https://api.naut.so/v1/projects/aevo returns 1 company with its team. Each data call costs 5 credits, and the Essential plan at $49 a month carries 3,000 credits; the docs are at naut.so/docs/api and plans at naut.so/pricing. Verified Telegram, email and LinkedIn for the people on these pages unlock on any paid NAUT plan, so start a 7-day trial.

Crypto options protocols FAQ

Which crypto options protocols have raised money?

Of the 17 crypto options protocols NAUT tracks as of 13 November 2026, 9 hold an investor round on NAUT's record: Thetanuts Finance ($18M seed), Opyn ($6.7M Series A), Siren ($4M), ArrowMarkets ($4M Series A), Spin ($3.75M seed), Lyra Finance ($3.3M seed), Kibo Finance ($1.5M seed), Hedget ($1M strategic) and Aevo, whose stored amounts are left out.

Who invests in crypto options protocols?

On NAUT's record, GSR, QCP Capital and Robot Ventures each backed 3 of the 9 funded crypto options protocols, and Paradigm backed Aevo and Thetanuts Finance and led Opyn's $6.7M Series A in February 2021.

Where can I find the founders of crypto options protocols and their contact channels?

NAUT lists 17 founders, co-founders and CEOs at 9 crypto options protocols, from Julian Koh at Aevo to Guillaume Lambert at Panoptic, each with a NAUT page, and GET https://api.naut.so/v1/projects/<slug> returns any company's team. Verified Telegram, email and LinkedIn unlock on any paid NAUT plan, so start a 7-day trial.

Is Deribit still an independent options exchange?

Coinbase completed its acquisition of Deribit on 14 August 2025, in a deal reported at about $2.9B; NAUT's record holds no funding round for Deribit.

Sources

Browse all articles