EToro invests in onchain derivatives platform Extended as brokers race into DeFi

Finance EToro invests in onchain derivatives platform Extended as brokers race into DeFi The broker plans to bring perpetual futures into Zengo wallet and expand DeFi products to its core platform as rivals like Robinhood expand onchain offerings. By Krisztian Sandor | Edited by Sheldon Reback Jul 2, 2026, 5:00 p.m. 2 min read Make preferred on Share Share this article Copy link X icon X (Twitter) LinkedIn Facebook Email Make preferred on EToro CEO Yoni Assia. (Vanja Savic/Wikimedia Commons) Summary Show Digital broker eToro led a $12.5 million funding round for onchain derivatives platform Extended, a startup led by Revolut's former crypto head, and plans to integrate perpetual futures into crypto wallet Zengo. The investment is part of a broader strategy to bring DeFi products to its users, eToro executive VP Elad Lavi said. The move comes as rival Robinhood expands its own blockchain ambitions with tokenized stocks and perpetual futures, while the lines between crypto exchanges, prediction markets and traditional brokerages increasingly blur. Digital broker eToro (ETOR) is doubling down on decentralized finance (DeFi) as online brokerages race to bring blockchain-based trading to mainstream investors. The company led a $12.5 million funding round for Extended, an onchain perpetual futures exchange founded by former employees of London-based fintech Revolut. Jump Crypto and Alber Blanc also participated in the round. The investment builds on eToro's $70 million acquisition of self-custody wallet Zengo , announced in April, and offers a clearer picture of the company's onchain strategy. "We are seeing growing demand from our users for seamless access to DeFi products," Elad Lavi, eToro's executive vice president of corporate development and strategy, told CoinDesk. "Our recent acquisition of Zengo and our investment in Extended are key parts of our strategy to meet this demand and expand our Web3 ecosystem." EToro plans to integrate Extended's perpetual futures engine directly into the Zengo wallet, giving users access to onchain derivatives while retaining custody of their assets. Over time, the company plans to bring broader DeFi products into the core eToro platform, Lavi said. The race for onchain trading The move comes as competition among digital brokerages is shifting toward blockchain-based trading infrastructure. On Wednesday, rival broker Robinhood rolled out its own blockchain , expanded its tokenized stock offering and said it plans to extend its perpetual futures business beyond cryptocurrencies into commodities such as gold and oil. Perpetual futures, once a niche crypto product, have become one of the industry's fastest-growing markets. Alongside cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, trading platforms are increasingly listing contracts tied to equities, commodities and other real-world assets, blurring the line between crypto-native and traditional financial markets. Led by former Revolut crypto head Ruslan Fakhrutdinov, Extended had processed more than $245 billion in trading volume as of June and supports more than 100 perpetual markets, according to the company. The firm said it plans to expand into spot trading, tokenized real-world assets and multi-asset collateral. "The first phase was building for DeFi natives," Fakhrutdinov said in a statement. "The next is expanding the infrastructure and partnerships needed to support the next stage of onchain derivatives." The investment points to a broader race to become what is best described as the " everything exchange " or "everything app" for financial markets. Coinbase (COIN) has expanded into perpetual futures, Robinhood is pairing tokenized stocks with event contracts and commodity perps, and prediction market operator Kalshi recently entered the perpetual futures business. As trading increasingly moves onto a blockchain environment, the lines separating brokerages, crypto exchanges and prediction markets are becoming harder to distinguish. "Capital markets are increasingly converging with digital asset infrastructure," Zengo managing director Ouriel Ohayon, said in a statement. "eToro's investment in Extended reflects a mutual conviction that the future of trading will be digital, accessible and can operate 24/7, beyond the traditional trading week." Derivatives DeFi Fundraising Latest Crypto News 1 Bitwise says STRC selloff signals crypto cycle nearing a bottom, not Strategy’s breaking point 9 minutes ago 2 US Treasury sanctions over 100 ISIS-K crypto addresses that moved over $1.4 million 2 hours ago 3 SBI Crypto to shut down mining pool that holds roughly 2% of Bitcoin's hashrate 2 hours ago 4 Ondo Finance debuts SEC-aligned tokenized stock model with BlackRock ETF, Micron shares 2 hours ago 5 JPMorgan says Strategy's bitcoin sales policy adds 'two-way risk' to crypto markets 3 hours ago 6 U.S. payroll growth slowed sharply in June, with only 57,000 jobs added 4 hours ago 7 A struggling Nasdaq-listed company that tried to copy Saylor's Bitcoin playbook is completely dumping crypto for AI 4 hours ago 8 Three years after MiCA became law, Europe's crypto framework is undergoing a rethink 5 hours ago 9 Warsh's comments set the stage for U.S. jobs data to ignite bitcoin, gold rally 5 hours ago 10 Smaller tokens lead as bitcoin, sol rally in 'first real bounce of the selloff' 5 hours ago Latest Research Building the Zcash Machine: Tachyon and Quantum Readiness Building the Zcash Machine: Tachyon and Quantum Readiness Zcash’s Tachyon upgrade aims to scale shielded payments, improve quantum readiness, and test whether its funding, security, and governance can hold. By CoinDesk Research Jun 30, 2026 Commissioned by GenZcash Zcash’s Tachyon upgrade aims to scale shielded payments, improve quantum readiness, and test whether its funding, security, and governance can hold. Why it matters : Zcash’s Tachyon upgrade aims to scale shielded payments, improve quantum readiness, and test whether its funding, security, and governance can hold. View Full Report More From Finance SBI Crypto to shut down mining pool that holds roughly 2% of Bitcoin's hashrate Ondo Finance debuts SEC-aligned tokenized stock model with BlackRock ETF, Micron shares Robinhood rolls out public blockchain as it expands deeper into crypto