Key Insights
SynFutures V3 is a decentralized derivatives exchange on Base and Blast, with the deployment on Base occurring on July 2, 2024. In October 2023, the team raised $22 million in a Series B funding round led by Pantera Capital. SynFutures V3 utilizes the Oyster AMM, which integrates features of an onchain order book, moving beyond the traditional AMM model to provide a more dynamic and efficient trade execution framework. With single-token liquidity provision, this permissionless model allows listing pairs with any asset as collateral and enables users to trade any quote asset against any collateral asset. Theoretically, users could pair any combination of assets against each other. SynFutures’ Perp Launchpad further democratizes derivatives trading by enabling anyone to create perpetual futures markets for any asset. In addition, order management, matching, and executions occur fully onchain, unlike alternative models that depend more heavily on offchain controls. In Q4’24, SynFutures rewarded loyal users by launching the SynFutures governance and utility token, F. SynFutures also airdropped 7.5% of the supply to Oyster Odyssey points program participants as well as earlier users and community members. SynFutures plans to begin offering a second season of the airdrop to continue rewarding users in 2025.
For the purposes of this report, we will focus strictly on V3 data, as V1 and V2 were deprecated in February 2024.
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SynFutures V3 continues to solidify its place as the top perpetual futures DEX on Base, facilitating over $67.4 billion in perp trading volume in Q4’24 across both Base and Blast. SynFutures V3 grew to 8,550 DAAs in Q4’24, a 9.8% QoQ increase compared to Q3’s 7,790 DAAs. V3’s average daily volume reached $732.7 million in Q4, peaking at $1.40 billion for the quarter on Nov. 12, 2024. YoY, all network metrics saw substantial growth, with average daily active addresses up 590%, average daily unique addresses rising 401.3%, and average daily trade count increasing 357.5%, highlighting strong user acquisition and the success of V3.
In Q4’24, SynFutures’ average daily unique traders increased from 1,132 in Q3’24 to 4,965 in Q4’24, a QoQ increase of 338.5% and a YoY increase of 401.3%. The number of unique traders rose significantly at the start of Q3, increasing in November when Bitcoin’s price rose from ~$67,000 to ~$108,000 in mid-December. The number of unique traders has remained stable at historically elevated levels while Bitcoin remained rangebound between ~$90,000 and $108,000. Trading volume during this period also maintained elevated levels compared to the beginning of the quarter.
To reward users choosing to trade on SynFutures during Q4’24, SynFutures launched multiple promotional campaigns, offering token rewards and incentives to participants. These included the BRETT giveaway, a 7,000,000 VND Giveaway in collaboration with Hak Research, and the BONSAICOIN campaign with $22,222 in rewards. Additionally, SynFutures partnered with KlimaDAO for a $20,000 reward campaign and hosted round 2 of the Lido trading competition, which featured $30,000 in prizes. Further incentive campaigns included the BLOCKLORDS LRDS trading campaign with $10,000 in rewards and the TRVL trading campaign, in collaboration with DTravel, offering $15,000 in prizes. These initiatives incentivized SynFutures’ loyal users and drove user engagement over the quarter.
Financial OverviewOn Nov. 25, 2024, SynFutures announced the establishment of the SynFutures Foundation and the launch of the F token. SynFutures subsequently launched the F token on Dec. 6, 2024, with a total supply of 10 billion tokens. At the token generation event (TGE), 12% of F’s supply was circulating. The F token is a governance and utility token that allows holders to stake F to vote on governance proposals, receive a boost on future airdrop incentives, and provides fee discounts to stakers on SynFutures.
By the end of Q4’24, ~12.9% of F’s genesis supply was liquid, according to SynFutures’ vesting schedule. Looking ahead to Q1’25, an additional ~304.8 million F, or 3.0% of F’s total supply, is scheduled to unlock.
The key components of the Q1’25 unlocks include:
The most traded quote assets on SynFutures are BTC and ETH, which accounted for 80.6% of total trades in Q4’24. Q4’24 averaged 38,038 daily trades, an increase of 44.8% QoQ. Throughout the quarter, SynFutures continued to aggressively list long-tail assets as part of an overarching growth strategy that prioritizes organic community-based tokens over aggressive incentives. Long-tail assets listed as part of this strategy in Q4’24 most notably included TAD, BONSAICOIN, BRETT, GOAT, ai16z, and PENGU.
SynFutures generated $13.6 million in fees in Q4’24. In June 2024, SynFutures launched the Meme Perp Summer campaign, introducing a fee discount promotion on major pairs such as BTC and ETH. Beginning on July 1, 2024, this promotion reduced taker fees for major pairs from 3 bps to 2 bps while maker fees remained at -1 bps. As of Dec. 31, 2024, this promotional period remains ongoing, and SynFutures has updated its fee structure documentation to reflect this ongoing promotional campaign. Additionally, trading fees for community listings consist of a 10 BPS fee for takers and 5 BPS for makers.
Ecosystem AnalysisSynFutures established itself as the leading perpetual DEX on Base in Q3’24 and has extended this accomplishment throughout Q4’24. SynFutures continued to significantly outpace competitors like Avantis, the third-largest perpetual DEX on Base by TVL. ApeX Omni, a modular, multichain, intent-centric trading platform developed by ApeX Protocol, unseated Avantis as the second largest perpetual DEX on Base by TVL in Q4, reaching $18.4 million in TVL. Throughout Q4’24, Avantis achieved $16.0 million in TVL and averaged $17.0 million in daily volume, while SynFutures averaged over $732.7 million in daily volume, reinforcing its position as the clear leader in Base’s perpetual DEX market.
SynFutures continued to execute its Base user acquisition strategy by prioritizing community engagement in Q4’24 with the listing of Base-native tokens. Base-native tokens that SynFutures listed during the quarter include BONSAICOIN, TAD, BRETT, VIRTUAL, ALB, LRDS, and cbBTC. Furthermore, SynFutures further supported the Base ecosystem in Q4’24 by listing the tokens of projects that migrated to Base, including KLIMA, GENOME, and TRVL, developing a robust product offering for the Base ecosystem.
Qualitative AnalysisAirdropsIn Q4’24, SynFutures rewarded its loyal user base by ending season 1 of the Oyster Odyssey points campaign, launching the F token, and distributing 750 million F tokens, 7.5% of the total supply, through the season 1 airdrop. The airdrop became claimable on Dec 6, 2024, and is claimable until March 6, 2025. At TGE, the F airdrop was worth $80.7 million. Eligibility was determined based on long-term engagement across SynFutures’ V1, V2, and V3; Oyster Odyssey points campaign participation and meaningful community contributions. To ensure the F token was distributed to faithful SynFutures supporters, over 153,000 addresses were excluded due to suspicious activity.
With the end of the Oyster Odyssey season 1 points campaign, SynFutures has teased the launch of a season 2 campaign scheduled to go live in Q2’25. The season 2 airdrop campaign will be designed to continue to reward SynFutures’s community, loyal users, and F stakers. F token stakers will earn a boost for the season 2 airdrop. However, as of this report's writing, further details on the season 2 airdrop campaign have not been released.
Protocol UpdatesThroughout Q4’24, SynFutures continued to refine its platform, enhancing user experience and improving product offerings. Updates across V3.11.0 and throughout Q4 included:
These partnerships include:
SynFutures maintained its position as the leading perpetual DEX on Base in Q4 2024, facilitating $67.4 billion in trading volume across Base and Blast deployments. The conclusion of season 1 of the Oyster Odyssey points program, and the launch of the F token effectively rewarded loyal users and marked a key milestone in the platform’s decentralization. Average daily unique addresses surged 338.5% QoQ and 401.3% YoY, while average daily active addresses grew 9.8% QoQ and 590.0% YoY, demonstrating user growth and sustained participation. With plans for an expanded incentive program, new product offerings, and deeper liquidity solutions in 2025, SynFutures is positioned to strengthen its role as a leading onchain financial infrastructure provider.
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