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Crypto and VC threads. @extendedapp Maxi.

[I @bigcrypt0x]

Dragonfly is the bridge between East and West.

These guys invest across the land, combining the two worlds of cryptocurrencies.

Who are they?
What kind of successes have they achieved?
Why is this one of the best crypto funds of all history?

You'll get all the answers below as we begin Dragonfly's ( @dragonfly_xyz ) journey.

The great meeting and creation of Dragonfly

It all started in 2018 when 2 completely unique people met. Alexander Pack and Bo Feung crossed paths during a deal to invest in OKX. It's a partnership between one of Silicon Valley's young cryptocurrency investment enthusiasts and one of China's most experienced investors.

The young enthusiast was Alexander Pack ( @alpackaP ). The trip to Hong Kong was pivotal. Then Pack realized the potential of the sphere and the markets of East and West. And so the market and meeting Bo Feng prompted Pack, We need to do our own big fund, "Crypto is a new asset class and it made sense to create a new firm to support it," Pack says. "We thought the old ones would be at a disadvantage."

Pack took the West, bringing in giants like Pack's old boss, Forbes Midas-listed Forbes member Salil Deshpande of Bain Capital Ventures. Andreessen Horowitz co-founder Marc Andreessen( @pmarca ) and his crypto fund co-manager Chris Dixon( @cdixon ) invested, as did Cyan Banister of Founders Fund and Olaf Carlson-Wee of Polychain( @zxocw ).

And the Asian part was the responsibility of experienced venture capitalist Bo Feng. He probably knows the Guanxi word for connections better than anyone. He was able to gather a huge number of them during his grandiose career. Thanks to him, they were able to attract Asian giants like the founders of Baidu, Meituan-Danping, Meitu, and China Renaissance Bank, who invested with MidasList venture capitalists Neil Shen from Sequoia China and Bob Xiaoping Xuiz Zhenfund, among others. Strategic investors such as OKEx and Bitmain also joined in.

All these investors helped Alex and Bo raise $100M for their first round of investment, an incredible result for the first round of funding. After raising, they went straight to work, invested in their first startups, and made a major acquisition of Metastable, founded by Naval Ravikant , a legendary player in the venture capital industry.

First Investments and the Acquisition of Metastable

Metastable is one of the longest-running funds in crypto history. Naval Ravikant co-founded it in 2014 and was an early investor in Ethereum, Avalanche, Cosmos, Starkware, NEAR, Zcash, Filecoin, Dfinity, and Algorand.

I think Naval Ravikant ( @naval ) needs no introduction, but I will say a few words. In 2010, he launched AngelList, a revolutionary platform that simplifies the process of raising investment for startups. AngelList also helps companies find talent and launch venture capital funds.
He has invested in companies such as Twitter, Uber, Yammer, Notion, Stack Overflow and others.

With Metastable, the famous Haseeb Qureshi ( @hosseeb ) joined the fund. In fact, Nawal has now become an advisor to Dragonfly, noting that "Hasib is a rare independent, principled investor. He is technical and insightful and forms his own unique, pragmatic view of where the space is heading. He is one of the first people I turn to when trying to understand a new project, and I would support him in anything he does."

After working as a software engineer, Qureshi picked up the "crypto bug" in 2017, he joked. And within a year, Qureshi said his firm launched its first fund with an investment team of several former techies, from computer scientists to coders. "It's essential to have that technical, fundamental knowledge when investing in early-stage crypto," Qureshi said. "It's like investing in crypto without understanding the technology; it's like investing in biotech without understanding biology. You're going to miss the basic mechanics of what you're investing in."

"While cryptocurrency is a global and 24/7 market, it can often feel like two separate ecosystems between Asia and the West," he said. This may also confirm the choice to go with Dragonfly and maximize his return on the fund idea.

After raising its first round of funding, the fund was able to invest in startups such as dYdX, ParaFi Capital, MakerDAO, Amber Group, Ava Labs, Dune Analytics and others.

However, Paсk left Dragonfly Capital in mid-2020, joined Huobi, and later launched another well-known venture capital fund, Hack VC.

Dragonfly’s Expansion and Evolution

Dragonfly Capital announced the launch of Dragonfly Fund II in December 2020 with $225M, doubling their initial success. More investments followed the funding and here are some of them: NEAR, Hashflow, Axelar Network, ConsenSys, Polygon, Apex and others.

Finally, the most huge funding round was raised in April 2022 for a record-breaking amount of $650M with a huge oversubscription. The fund was oversubscribed, with limited partners including Tiger Global, KKR, Sequoia China, Ivy League endowments, Invesco, Top Tier Capital Partners, and an undisclosed Southeast Asian state-owned investment firm, among others. The firm originally planned to raise $500M, according to a January 2022 SEC filing.

In addition, Qureshi says the capital situation has changed dramatically since the previous Dragonfly funds. "There is a much greater awareness of the importance of cryptocurrency. There is much more interest in crypto investment, not only from traditional venture capitalists or crypto venture capitalists but also from traditional institutions that are now involved in crypto investment because they realize how important it is."

This was followed by investments in big-name companies such as https://t.co/if7T68lGE3, Kaito, Aptos, Caldera, Monad, Ethena, Bitget, Polymarket, Andrena(DAWN) and others.

In addition, a fourth round of funding is planned for at least $500M.

Unfortunately, I can't reveal the essence and awesomeness of all the investments I've listed as they are worthy of a separate post, but trust me, Dragonfly's portfolio has a crazy concentration of incredible companies.

Great funds start with great people!

Also, these investments and funding rounds wouldn't have happened without such a legendary team; I'll say a few words about the main faces of Dragonfly:

Bo Feng is the Founder and Managing Partner. He played a pivotal role in making the first generation of Chinese internet companies public on NASDAQ and established some of the most prominent internet-focused VC firms in China. As one of the earliest advocates for blockchain in China, Bo has been a key supporter of pioneering crypto teams.

Haseeb Qureshi ( @hosseeb ) is the managing partner. Prior to that, he was a general partner at MetaStable Capital. He founded a stablecoin startup, worked as a software engineer at Airbnb and https://t.co/WPbdt50MHX (later acquired by Coinbase), and began his career as a professional high-stakes poker player before moving into investing.

Rob Hadick ( @HadickM ) is a general partner. Prior to that, he played a key role in cryptocurrency investment management at GoldenTree Asset Management. Prior to joining GTAM, he invested and provided strategic counsel to cryptocurrency and technology companies while at PJT Partners, Goldman Sachs, and Heritage Partners. Rob holds an MBA from Columbia Business School and a BA from Washington University in St. Louis.

Tom Schmidt ( @tomhschmidt ) is a general partner. He previously served as Head of Product at 0x and worked as a product manager at Facebook and Instagram. Tom has a degree in computer science from Stanford University.

Of course, the rest of the team is just as valuable, but again, that's worth a separate post.

I can't help but note the meaning behind their logo and name - In spring, the Dragonfly is the first to emerge from the cold into a fresh, green world. It is a humble creature, but the Dragonfly has one of the highest hunting success rates in the animal kingdom. Like a true creature the foundation hunts for the best ideas and founders on the market.

What we have so far as of 2018, when a miracle happened, Dragonfly was born:

1) Over 155 investments

2) Top - 2 in terms of discussions among crypto VCs by @_kaitoai

3) The Dragonfly brand is known all over the world.

4) The best team with more than 45+ people.

5) Over $3B AUM ( according to the youngest partner - Mia Deng ) and many other things...

I'm sure this is just the beginning, and it's hard to judge the financial situation. But I will also give my personal opinion beyond the dry facts.

For me, as a venture enthusiast, Dragonfly is a good example of sound strategy, a great team, flexibility, and the art of venture investing with all that it entails.

I can safely say that this fund is one of the best in the crypto industry, and it is an honor to receive money from it.

I wish the Dragonfly team the best of luck in keeping up the momentum and developing further in this turbulent crypto market.

Please show this work to the Dragonfly guys and send it to all those who have long wanted to lay the foundation of information in crypto venture investing. It's still a very narrow market with a huge opportunity but lacking fundamentals.

@JessicaFurr305, @alpackaP, @neilc_dawn, @zxocw, @hildobby_, @gmEthereum, @Rodairos, @pat_goodridge, @chris_ahsing, @athena_jones15, @_kaitoai, @Punk9277, @sandraleow, @AlexOnchain, @0xsudogm

I hope this information was helpful to you. I wrote it myself using various sources, so I apologize for any factual errors, please correct in the comments.

Dragonfly Twitter - @dragonfly_xyz

Good luck )

[I @bigcrypt0x]

@csmcis Expecting moreee

[csm @csmcis]

Extended = organic, not just hype!

Just look at the Daily and Weekly active users. The market is in range, volumes have dropped, activity across the market is slowing down…

HOWEVER, user metrics keep their peak values.

What is this if not a proof of organic use of the exchange?

By the way, this is a good example of a project WITHOUT purchased KOLs and generally Paid advertising.

@rf_extended @lttlanna please cook more!👨‍🍳

[I @bigcrypt0x]

@Saram_ath @rf_extended @lttlanna Sara, this the cool way, wait for more, super interesting!

[I @bigcrypt0x]

How can you explain to anyone why they should to trade on Extended?

Show him that!

Hyperliquid
– your HLP dep: $100,000
– your return: 1% APR (≈$83 in 1 month)
– your trading liquidity: $0

Lighter
– your LLP dep: $100,000
– your yield: 4% APR (≈$333 in 1 month)
– your trading liquidity: $0

Extended 👑
– your XVS dep: $100,000
– your return: 30% APR (≈$2,500 in 1 month)
– your trading liquidity: $90,000

XVS is an obvious game changer 👨🏻‍🍳

[I @bigcrypt0x]

@lttlanna Soon everyone will realize how much XVS has changed Extended. It's also cool that you're moving towards your goal of a unified layer of liquidity!

[I @bigcrypt0x]

A few metrics from the CEO of Extended - Ruslan

Over the past two weeks, we have observed:

1. The growth of TVL by about 35% is already $163 million

2. The number of active users increased by about 40 in a week%

3. An increase in the number of active users per day by about 55%

4. The daily trading volume increased by about 65%.%

5. Increase in the number of new users per day by about 110%

[I @bigcrypt0x]

@rf_extended People just start notice Extended, please keep cooking!

[I @bigcrypt0x]

@muarmemuar @paradex @variational_io @nadoHQ @HyperliquidX @tradexyz @extendedapp @pacifica_fi @etherealdex @avantisfi Mistake, @extendedapp should the main in the s-tier…

[I @bigcrypt0x]

Happy New Year, friends!

We will start by summarizing the results of the past year and the roadmap for 2026.

A year ago, @extendedapp had the following indicators in its closed beta version:

~$1 million in TVL users,

~20-30 active users per day,

~$3-4mn in daily trading volume,

~$500 in daily commissions.

Then there were a lot of updates:

1) Switching to Starknet,

2) Expansion into traditional financial markets,

3) Updating the web application,

4) Builders code support,

5) XVS release and much more!

To compare the metrics now:

~$135mln in TVL,

~3,000 active users/day,

~ $110k daily fees($236k at peak),

~$1bln volume/day.

The team sincerely thanks everyone who contributed to the 100-300-x growth of Extended in all indicators over the past year!

In 2025, a team of 10 people and the best community have laid a solid foundation to ensure another 10-fold growth compared to current figures in 2026.

In 2026, our goal is to make Extended one of the top three decentralized exchanges (DEX) through continuous product differentiation and partnerships.:

1. Goals for the 1st quarter

• Launch of margin collateral for various assets with an integrated lending market;

• Providing a wide range of promotions in partnership with one of the world's largest trading platforms.

2. Goals for the 2nd quarter

• Launch of spot markets

• Release of a native mobile application with enhanced login and logout support.

3. Goals for 3-4 quarters

• Extending Extended's reach beyond crypto-oriented users using Code Builders

• Decentralization of the exchange operator.

Let's make this year unforgettable together!

[I @bigcrypt0x]

@aaalexhl @extendedapp did ~230k, sorry

[I @bigcrypt0x]

@aaalexhl I think you not correctly understood his message, ask him directly !

[I @bigcrypt0x]

@Konstantin_on_x @HyperliquidX Respect for using Extended, you got it!

Did you try XVS in Extended?

[I @bigcrypt0x]

@hyli_org 100% agree

[I @bigcrypt0x]

@kenchangh Of course, when there are mathematical expectations and others, fewer people think about it.

[I @bigcrypt0x]

@HadickM The last year in this growing cycle? Keep working and do your best in 2026 guys !

[I @bigcrypt0x]

@a16zcrypto It is surprised to see not KYC, KYA - Know Your Agent!

[I @bigcrypt0x]

Sammari AMA: Extended × Pacifica — key insights!

The other day, a joint AMA session of the @extendedapp and @pacifica_fi teams took place - a rare case when two PerpDEX projects do not compete head—on, but openly cooperate to develop the entire on-chain trading market.

I've collected all the key takeaways for you:

1) Both projects believe that 5-7 strong players will remain in the market and the DEX market will grow to the level of CeFi.

2) The main update is XVS, which I wrote about here.

By the way, they have already been raised to 75%, which is super strong!

3) Extended is responsible for risk management;
• Vault calculates max loss in advance

• If liquidation can harm the vault → the position goes to ADL

• There are no “black swans” due to sudden liquidations

4) What's next on roadmap Extended:

• Cross-asset collateral (WBTC, ETH, etc.)

• Spot

• Mobile app - built-in wallet
on/off-ramp

5) Joint trading competition
Total reward pool (5% weekly distribution on each side):

• Individual leaderboards

• Rewards are distributed proportionally to the contribution

• The goal is to test real cross-community interaction

Extended there are still a lot of fundamental and powerful updates waiting in the future, I'm especially looking forward to the mobile phone, aren't you?)

You can listen to the AMA here - !

[Pacifica @pacifica_fi]

https://t.co/3tdDt86bua

[I @bigcrypt0x]

@Axel_bitblaze69 @Cbb0fe @extendedapp 100% worth it !

[I @bigcrypt0x]

Extended launches Vault Shares (XVS)!

To begin with, what is Vault Shares in general - an opportunity to make your Vault balance liquid for trading. That is, you can receive additional returns to your balance in the form of an approximate 15% APR as a Base yield, and also increase income through trading and Extra yield.

Launch plan:

Tuesday, December 9th:
Launch Day
All users with a positive vault balance receive XVS to a new additional account (Vault Balance).
XVS can be used as margin for trading on an extended account.

XVS update after launch
1 week: 50% of the total XVS contribution + additional return depending on user activity (above the base return)
2 weeks: 75% of the total XVS contribution
End of the year / beginning of the next: 90% liquid XVS.

Now let's look at an example.

Let's say you had $1,000 in the Extended Vault. Today you will be able to get 25% XVS and start trading again at $250.

Further, over time, you will be able to get 50% of your Vault deposit liquid after 1 week, after the 2nd week 75% and towards the end of this year or the beginning of next year you will receive 90% liquid XVS.

An important addition to calculating the profitability of your APR on XVS:

Base yield (~15% per APR), received by all depositors.
Extra yield depends on your trading activity: the more actively you trade, the higher your APR will be.

I think it is the huge key feature of Extended and congrats team with it! @rf_extended @lttlanna

Let’s make Extended bigger guys !

EX10 MAXI

[I @bigcrypt0x]

Extended showed the best results in terms of slippage and total cost of execution, competing with Hyperliquid and Lighter!

Liquidity and Execution Status Extended V2:

The commission of the taker + slippage in Extended, @HyperliquidX (basic level) and @Lighter_xyz (both Standard and Premium) was analyzed.

1. We took all the crypto markets listed in Extended

2. Estimated the average slippage for market orders of $10k, $100k and $500k (and $1000k for major currencies)

3. We evaluated each exchange for each combination of market and clip size separately by slippage and total execution cost (1 = least slippage / cost, 3 = the most)

Slippage.
Out of 137 combinations of markets and clip sizes:
80 times Extended - 🥇
36 times Hyperliquid - 🥈
11 times Lighter - 🥉

The total cost of execution with Lighter Standard (0 commission).

67 times Lighter Standard - 🥇
50 times Extended - 🥈
10 times Hyperliquid Base Tier - 🥉

The total cost of execution with Lighter Premium (commission 2 bps).

61 times Extended - 🥇
54 times Lighter Premium - 🥈
12 times Hyperliquid Base Tier - 🥉

What does it all mean?:

1. Lighter vs Extended:

The total cost of performance on Extended and Lighter Standard is comparable on violas, while Lighter Standard is cheaper on basic ones. Compared to Lighter Premium, Extended becomes cheaper in more cases.

2. Hyperliquid vs Extended: If your HL taker commission level is at least 2.5 bps, the total execution cost is likely to be cheaper on Extended.

You can read firsthand from CEO Ruslan @rf_extended - https://t.co/NX06OSq8I3

The full doc with the results of the study - https://t.co/TpvKDRuB1e