What it does
Variational is the protocol; Omni is its trading application for individual traders. Instead of placing every market on a separate public order book, Omni obtains executable quotes from the Omni Liquidity Provider, or OLP. This concentrates the trading experience around the price available for a particular order, including its spread.
The market range includes crypto perpetuals and selected traditional-asset derivatives. These contracts provide price exposure rather than ownership of shares or commodities. The same protocol also supports Pro, a separate institutional product for more customized derivatives. For a farming workflow, Omni is the relevant interface; its points and referral terms should be checked independently of the institutional offering.
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Which network does Variational use?
Core escrow, settlement-pool and liquidity-provider contracts are published on Arbitrum One. Quotes and liquidity provision are distinct from this onchain settlement layer. Arbitrum USDC is the documented onboarding asset; a supported wallet alone does not make every network or USDC version deposit-compatible.
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Where it stands out
- RFQ execution makes it possible to request prices across a broad market list without relying on a newly bootstrapped order book for every asset.
- Trading commission is zero, which makes the quoted spread, funding and liquidation terms particularly important when comparing execution costs.
- Published Arbitrum contract addresses make it possible to identify the settlement infrastructure rather than relying only on an interface balance.
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What you can do
- 01Omni combines crypto and traditional-asset derivative markets in one trading application.
- 02OLP is the venue’s integrated liquidity counterparty; the quality of its quotes remains a separate consideration from protocol settlement.
- 03USDC deposits use Arbitrum One. The onboarding guide describes gasless actions after connecting a compatible EVM wallet.
- 04The current account guide still describes invite-only beta access. A working invitation is an access requirement, not a guaranteed reward.
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Who’s behind it
Co-founders Lucas Schuermann and Edward Yu previously built quantitative trading firm Qu Capital, acquired by Digital Currency Group in 2019. They later worked at Genesis before establishing Variational. The contributor history distinguishes the earlier trading business from the derivatives protocol built afterward.
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Funding and investors
Disclosed financing includes the $10.3M seed, a $1.5M strategic round and an approximately $50M Series A. These are company/protocol-development investments, not deposits into the OLP trading vault.
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- 2024$10.3M
Seed
Reported investorsBain Capital Crypto · Peak XV Partners · Coinbase Ventures · Dragonfly · North Island Ventures · Hack VC
Bain Capital Crypto and Peak XV co-led. Disclosed in 2024; closing date not specified.
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- 2025-06-04$1.5M
Strategic
Reported investorsMirana Ventures · Caladan · Zoku Ventures
Company release names these participants; Zoku was formerly Superpotion.
Supporting sources 1
- 2026-05-20Approximately $50M
Series A
Reported investorsDragonfly · Bain Capital Crypto · Coinbase Ventures
Dragonfly led; the company release also mentions unnamed strategic investors.
Referral benefits and conditions
No automatic invitee registration bonus or fee discount is confirmed in the referral rules. An invitation can provide access while beta registration is gated.
The documented 5% spread reward and one point per ten invitee points accrue to the referrer. ArbuzDAO’s referral link has not yet been supplied.
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Fees & availability
Fees and costs
Omni charges no separate trading commission. Its liquidity provider earns the quoted spread, and perpetual funding still applies. The published schedule lists $0.10 for deposits and withdrawals, plus a 0.5% liquidation penalty around the relevant bid or ask. Zero commission does not mean zero trading cost.
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Eligibility and availability
The restricted-person policy excludes US and Canadian persons and other listed jurisdictions, including Taiwan. Access may also require a beta invitation. Country eligibility and individual competition requirements must be checked before depositing.