5000万美元融资点燃空投预期，Variational成为Perp DEX新焦点
- 核心观点：永续合约DEX项目Variational完成5000万美元A轮融资，其零手续费模型及独特的积分体系引发市场关注；项目尚未发币，社区预计TGE在2026年Q3至Q4。
- 关键要素：
- Variational获得由Dragonfly Capital领投，Bain Capital Crypto与Coinbase Ventures参投的5000万美元A轮融资；受此消息影响，其盘前FDV一度触及6.9亿美元。
- 项目核心产品为部署在Arbitrum上的Perp DEX“Omni”，零交易手续费，通过“经纪式”模式连接多源流动性（包括传统做市商与加密交易所）。
- 近一个月交易量超160亿美元，未平仓合约量超8亿美元，在Perp DEX中排名第四，且是前五中唯一未发币的项目。
- 积分计划于2025年12月17日启动，代币供应约50%分配社区，积分奖励偏向有机交易质量，包括等级加成、邀请机制及历史交易加成。
- 官方文档显示积分发放最晚至2026年Q3末，预期TGE在2026年Q3-Q4；Polymarket预测12月31日前发币概率为78%。
Original: Odaily (@OdailyChina)
Author: Asher (@Asher_ 0210)
A funding announcement has propelled Perp DEX Variational to the center of discussions in the airdrop farming community.
Last night, Variational announced the completion of a $50 million Series A funding round, led by Dragonfly Capital, with participation from Bain Capital Crypto and Coinbase Ventures. Following this news, Variational's pre-market price surged over 36% in a short period, briefly touching $6.9 (corresponding to an FDV of $690 million). The price has since slightly retreated and is currently at $6.1 (corresponding to an FDV of $610 million).
Variational Pre-Market Price Trend
Additionally, on the prediction platform predict.fun, the probability for the event "Variational FDV exceeds $500 million one day after launch" rose to 57%, while the probability for "Variational FDV exceeds $1 billion one day after launch" rose to 27%.
Predict.fun Prediction Event: "Variational FDV One Day After Launch"
Next, Odaily will guide you through Variational, the rules for earning points through trading, and when the TGE is expected.
Variational: A Zero-Fee Perp DEX Deployed on Arbitrum
Variational is a Perp DEX platform deployed on Arbitrum, with its headquarters located in the Cayman Islands. Its core product is Omni. Simply put, users can trade mainstream crypto assets like BTC, ETH, and SOL on Variational, as well as trade more diverse perpetual contract markets such as long-tail assets, stocks, commodities, and volatility indices.
Compared to most Perp DEXs, Variational's most distinctive feature is zero trading fees. When users trade on Omni, the platform does not charge standard transaction fees. The main costs come from spreads, slippage, funding rates, and deposit/withdrawal fees.
Furthermore, Variational's underlying design differs from traditional Perp DEXs. Instead of relying solely on an internal order book or a single liquidity pool to execute trades, it connects multiple liquidity sources through a "broker-like" model, including traditional finance market makers, crypto-native market makers, and major trading platforms. This approach addresses the "liquidity cold start" problem on-chain.
According to data from DefiLlama, Variational's trading volume in the past month has exceeded $16 billion, with open interest currently surpassing $800 million, ranking it fourth in the Perp DEX sector. Notably, among the top five Perp DEXs by open interest, Variational is the only platform that has not yet launched a token.
Perp DEX Open Interest Size Rankings
Earn Points by Trading: A Detailed Look at Variational's Rules
For regular users, the most direct way to participate in Variational currently is to earn points by trading.
Variational officially launched the Omni points program on December 17, 2025. At launch, it retroactively distributed 3 million points to historical trading users, covering activity up to December 11, 2025. Subsequently, points are distributed every Friday at 00:00 UTC, reflecting platform activity from the previous cycle ending Thursday at 00:00 UTC.
Additionally, according to documentation, the project commits to allocating approximately 50% of the token supply to the community (via various mechanisms including points and revenue sharing, not solely an airdrop). It also plans to use at least 30% of protocol revenue for VAR token buybacks and burns.
The core of Variational's points system is not overly complex; the more actively you trade, the more points you are likely to earn. However, Variational does not simply distribute points based on volume. Instead, it incorporates a design that leans towards trading quality. Specific details include:
- Points are directly linked to user trading activity: The platform's rewards page indicates the points program is designed to reward protocol users, who can earn points through platform activity. The official team also reserves the right to adjust points and address non-organic behavior. This implies that obvious meaningless wash trading or arbitrage-style point farming may be subject to reduction or disqualification later.
- Early users receive additional bonuses: Accounts that had traded before the points program launched will enjoy a 10% points bonus on points earned subsequently.
- Introduction of a Reward Tiers system: A user's total trading volume over the past 30 days determines their tier. The calculation is based on personal trading volume plus 0.2 times the trading volume of their referrals. Different tiers correspond to different point multipliers: Iron is 0%, Bronze is 0.5%, Silver is 1%, Gold is 2%, Platinum is 3%, Diamond is 4%, and Infinity is 5%. Achieving Bronze requires a Total Volume of $1 million in the last 30 days, Silver is $5 million, Gold is $25 million, Platinum is $100 million, Diamond is $750 million, and Infinity is $2.5 billion.
- Referrals also yield points and USDC rewards: Inviters receive a 5% USDC reward on the spread paid by their invitees. Additionally, for every 10 points an invitee earns, the inviter earns 1 point.
Based on these rules, Variational's point design leans more towards organic trading rather than pure volume generation. For airdrop farmers, the key is not just completing one trade, but also to carefully consider whether their trading frequency, capital efficiency, position risk, and point cost are properly aligned.
When is Variational's TGE?
Currently, Variational has not yet announced a specific TGE date for VAR. However, according to information disclosed in official documentation, points distribution will last until at least the end of Q3 2026. Therefore, the community generally anticipates the TGE to occur sometime in Q3 or Q4 of this year.
Source: Variational Official Documentation
Furthermore, pricing in prediction markets leans more towards Q4. Data from Polymarket shows the probability for the event "Variational will launch a token before September 30th this year" is only 26%, while the probability for the event "Variational will launch a token before December 31st this year" is 78%.
Polymarket Prediction Event: "Will Variational TGE?"
