\n
Phantom Doubles Down on Perpetual Futures After Recruiting Hyperliquid’s Market‑Building Team
\n
The crypto wallet Phantom announced that it has brought on the creators of Ventuals, the project that recently powered Hyperliquid’s most high‑profile perpetual‑futures experiments. This move signals a decisive shift for Phantom from a pure storage solution to a full‑featured trading platform that hopes to capture a larger slice of the rapidly expanding perpetual‑futures market.
\n
Perpetual futures are contracts that settle indefinitely, allowing traders to speculate on price movements without a set expiration date. Their rise has been one of the most significant trends in crypto finance over the past two years, driving billions of dollars in daily volume on platforms like Hyperliquid, dYdX, and Serum. By hiring the architects behind Ventuals, Phantom gains deep expertise in on‑chain order‑book design, liquidity incentives, and market‑making strategies that are essential for sustaining high‑volume perpetual markets.
\n
Industry analysts note that the talent acquisition is not just a symbolic gesture; it equips Phantom with the technical know‑how to launch its own suite of perpetual products, potentially integrating them directly into the wallet’s swap and staking flows. This could enable users to open leveraged positions, earn yield on collateral, and access a broader range of derivative assets without leaving the Phantom interface. In a market where institutional capital is gravitating toward products that combine high liquidity with low‑slippage execution, such capabilities could markedly increase wallet engagement and transaction frequency.
\n
From a regulatory perspective, the expansion into perpetual futures also places Phantom in a gray zone that regulators around the world are beginning to scrutinize. While perpetual contracts are technically classified as derivatives rather than securities, the line can blur when they are marketed as “perpetual swaps” with leverage up to 100x. Phantom’s CEO Brandon Millman emphasized that the company will maintain strict compliance checks and will only offer perpetual products in jurisdictions where they have received clear guidance.
\n
Strategically, the hires also bring with them relationships with a network of market makers and liquidity providers that could help Phantom bootstrap its own order book. This is crucial because deep liquidity is the lifeblood of any perpetual‑futures market; without it, price slippage can be severe, and traders may migrate to more liquid competitors. By leveraging the existing infrastructure of Hyperliquid — which already boasts one of the deepest on‑chain perpetual markets — Phantom can accelerate its go‑to‑market timeline and reduce the cost of building a new market from scratch.
\n
Overall, the move reflects a broader industry trend: crypto wallets are evolving from simple token‑storage tools into comprehensive financial hubs that offer swaps, staking, lending, and now perpetual derivatives. If Phantom can successfully integrate these capabilities while maintaining robust security and regulatory compliance, it could cement its position as a one‑stop shop for both retail and institutional crypto participants.
\n
Frequently Asked Questions
\n
- \n
- What are perpetual futures? Perpetual futures are derivative contracts that settle over an indefinite horizon. Unlike traditional futures, they have no expiration date, which allows traders to hold positions as long as they maintain sufficient margin. Funding rates, determined by market conditions, periodically adjust the contract price to keep it tethered to the underlying spot index.
- Why does hiring the Ventuals team matter for Phantom? The Ventuals team designed one of Hyperliquid’s most successful perpetual‑futures markets, which attracted hundreds of millions of dollars in daily volume. Their expertise in on‑chain order‑book mechanics, incentive engineering, and liquidity provisioning gives Phantom the technical foundation needed to launch competitive perpetual products at scale.
- How could this affect everyday crypto investors? If Phantom can offer low‑slippage perpetual trading directly within its wallet, retail users could access advanced trading strategies — such as leveraged long or short positions — without needing a separate exchange account. This convenience could increase user engagement, but it also introduces additional risk, so investors should carefully assess margin requirements and funding‑rate mechanics before trading.
\n
\n
\n
