PERPTools, a decentralized perpetual trading platform, has raised $8 million across two funding rounds as it works to scale an AI-native trading infrastructure built by members of the team behind DEXTools.

The total comprises a $3 million pre-seed round at a $30 million fully diluted valuation (FDV)—a measure of a project's market capitalization assuming its entire token supply is in circulation—and a $5 million seed round at an $80 million FDV. The pre-seed round was led by DEXTools Ventures and Orderly Network, while the seed round included BigBrain Holdings, NEAR, Animoca Brands, Sfermion and Shima Capital. According to the company, fundraising began in November 2025, with the-seed closing in December 2025 and the seed round closing in early 2026.

Investors Span the DeFi Sector

The new capital brings together investors and infrastructure providers from across decentralized finance (DeFi). DEXTools Ventures provides a connection to the DEXTools ecosystem, while Orderly Network supplies the underlying trading infrastructure and liquidity layer used by PERPTools—a dual role that makes it both a lead investor and the operator of the orderbook infrastructure the platform's trading settles through. The company said the participating investors also bring experience across consumer crypto, creator-focused platforms and blockchain ecosystems.

Evgen Tokarev, CEO of PERPTools, said the platform was developed around the existing trading audience of DEXTools and its analytics infrastructure.

PERPTools was founded by members of the team behind DEXTools. Tokarev previously worked on trading infrastructure at DEXTools and has nine years of experience in trading systems. The leadership team also includes CTO Denys Hrechko, formerly of Everstake, and CMO Wael Rajab, who additionally serves as CEO of DEXTools Ventures.

What Is PERPTools?

PERPTools is a decentralized perpetual trading platform that combines perpetual futures trading with AI-based trading agents and market prediction products. It runs on Orderly Network's omnichain liquidity infrastructure, which provides orderbook-based trading across supported blockchain networks.

Perpetual futures are contracts that allow traders to take long or short positions on an asset without owning the underlying asset directly, and they have become a significant part of decentralized derivatives markets. PERPTools is working to combine this trading infrastructure with automated trading agents and other applications within a single platform.

Three Products Live Ahead of Token Launch

The platform has launched three products ahead of its planned token generation event (TGE).

Perp DEX

The PERPTools Perp DEX is a decentralized perpetual futures exchange currently available on mainnet. It supports long and short positions, leverage and cross-margin trading. Deposits are non-custodial, while trading is settled through Orderly Network's omnichain central limit order book (CLOB) infrastructure.

AI Arena

AI Arena is a marketplace for autonomous onchain trading agents. Users create an agent by defining parameters such as risk tolerance, leverage limits and a trading strategy using natural-language instructions. The agents can then trade continuously using the liquidity available on the PERPTools perpetual exchange, and users can allocate USDC to individual agents—meaning Orderly Network's liquidity infrastructure sits beneath both the trading venue and the agent marketplace alike. Agent rankings are based on verified 30-day onchain profit and loss (PnL), according to PERPTools.

Tap Prediction

Tap Prediction is a prediction market product that uses live perpetual market price feeds. Users select positions on a price grid and can place wagers starting from $0.10, with the platform advertising payouts of up to 25x depending on the selected outcome. PERPTools says the product has a prize pool of more than $1 million and is generating revenue ahead of the company's planned token launch.

PERPTools Reports $240 Million in Beta Trading Volume

PERPTools says its private beta generated approximately $240 million in trading volume ahead of the token generation event. The company is using this early activity as part of its effort to expand from a trading analytics ecosystem into a broader trading platform.

DEXTools co-founder and CMO Frederic Fernández said the integration is intended to allow users to move from market discovery to trade execution without leaving the broader DEXTools ecosystem. Orderly Network CEO and co-founder Ran Yi also highlighted the use of Orderly's liquidity infrastructure as part of PERPTools' trading platform.

Why AI Trading Agents Are Becoming Part of DeFi

AI-powered trading agents are an emerging area within decentralized finance as developers experiment with automated strategies that can interact directly with blockchain-based markets. Unlike traditional trading bots, AI-based agents can be designed to interpret strategy instructions, apply predefined risk parameters and execute transactions automatically. PERPTools combines this model with perpetual futures markets through its AI Arena product, while creating a marketplace model in which users can evaluate the performance of different trading agents and allocate capital based on their onchain results.

Automated trading in perpetual markets also carries significant risks, however. Leverage can amplify both gains and losses, and the performance of an automated trading strategy can change substantially as market conditions change. Users should also understand crypto scams and rug-pull risks before committing funds to new platforms or projects.

PERPTools Targets Q4 2026 Token Generation Event

With both funding rounds completed, PERPTools says its focus is shifting toward product development and ecosystem expansion. The company is targeting a Q4 2026 token generation event as it continues developing its perpetual trading infrastructure and AI-based products. Ahead of that date, the company's reported figures—approximately $240 million in beta trading volume, the verified 30-day onchain PnL rankings in AI Arena and Tap Prediction's prize pool of more than $1 million—offer concrete benchmarks for tracking its progress toward launch.

The broader strategy centers on connecting market discovery, automated trading and decentralized derivatives within the same ecosystem, with success ultimately depending on continued product development, trading activity, liquidity and adoption among users and developers.

Source: Live Bitcoin News