Solana DeFi Protocol Delta One Raises $9.1M to Offer Crypto Yield Farming

CORRECTION (April 19, 15:02 UTC): A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that Delta One offers crypto options trading.

Solana-based decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol Delta One has raised a $9.1 million seed round led by Alameda Research and DeFi developer collective Ship Capital. The funding will go toward the protocol’s core development and ecosystem expansion.

The Delta One protocol offers users an automated, low-risk way to earn yield by using a "delta neutral" trading strategy that reduces volatility.

"You have this market neutral exposure, so you can ‘set and forget’ your position. You don’t need to worry about ‘Oh, the price is constantly changing.’ It’s not really reflecting the price too much,” Delta One co-founder Paul Sengh told CoinDesk in an interview.

Other participants in the funding round included Solana Ventures, Solana co-founder Raj Gokal, investment firms Electric Capital and AlleyCorp and Race Capital co-founders Chris McCann and Alfred Chuang.

Delta One was founded by Paul and DJ Sengh in October 2021 during the Solana Ignition Hackathon.

“Delta-neutral farming is a technique that many hedge funds love to use, but it can require spending hours each day crunching numbers and tracking positions when done manually by retail investors,” said DJ Sengh in the press release. “We believe democratizing these strategies through structured products will be a pivotal part of onboarding the next billion users of DeFi.”

Delta One is working to expand its ecosystem by partnering with projects that could build on the protocol’s vaults, which includes teams creating new lending markets, reserve currencies and novel options strategies.

Delta One is considering creating a stablecoin to help purchasers earn sustainable yield across the vaults without having to enter the site. The stablecoin would be integrated with Solana Pay, said Paul Sengh.