STIX and Accomplice Lead Neutrl’s $5 Million Raise to Launch $NUSD, a High-Yield Synthetic Dollar

• $NUSD, Neutrl’s synthetic dollar, offers stable and institutional-grade yields to professional investors by leveraging OTC discounts for major altcoins and delta-neutral hedging using perpetual futures

• Neutrl targets the $10 billion locked token trading market by democratising access to OTC arbitrage strategies through its market-neutral yield offering

Neutrl, a DeFi protocol developing a scalable, market-neutral synthetic dollar called $NUSD targeting OTC arbitrage strategies, has raised USD $5 million in seed funding. The round was led by STIX and Accomplice, with participation from Amber Group, SCB Limited (SIG), Figment Capital, and Nascent, alongside angel investors such as Guy Young and Steven Shi of Ethena, DCF Capital, Flood (Insilico Trading), Huss, Jez (izebel.eth) and Josh Lim (Arbelos Markets).

Neutrl’s funding comes at a time when decentralised finance (DeFi) is experiencing one of its lowest rate environments to date, with a TVL-weighted average annual percentage rate (APR) of 5.8%.

As part of this emerging category, Neutrl is tackling key challenges in DeFi – such as cyclical yields, capacity constraints, and unreliable short-term yield sources – that often leave investors exposed to market volatility. Neutrl’s $NUSD uses OTC arbitrage, buying major altcoins at a discount in private markets, to deliver crypto-native trading yields while minimising directional risk. This is achieved by employing delta-neutral hedging using perpetual futures, through a dual approach balancing long and short positions to minimise exposure to market swings, allowing a higher margin of safety than traditional basis trades and enabling users to access premium returns from strategies presently reserved for institutional players. 

Locked token transactions soared past a record $10B in volume in 2024 (source: STIX), indicating the appetite for OTC arbitrage yields across altcoins. Tokens like $SOL, $AVAX, $TON, $TIA, and $WLD, amongst others, were heavily traded by foundations and concentrated token holders. Neutrl has built a new DeFi primitive via its single-point yield offering via $NUSD, enabling mainstream investors to access OTC yields without needing to manage several positions simultaneously. It also engages autonomous risk systems, ensuring 100% liquidity and uptime and introducing a layer of liquidity over illiquid positions. 

“With a projected USD $2 billion in total value locked over the next 24 months, together we’re opening up exclusive private market strategies and making them accessible, transparent, and usable for a new generation of crypto users”, said Behrin Naidoo, Co-Founder of Neutrl.

This model has the potential to uniquely influence the crypto-native capital landscape by connecting private OTC markets with decentralised finance, drawing long-term capital from allocators seeking real trading yield in altcoin markets.

About Neutrl:

Neutrl is a DeFi protocol designed to bridge private OTC markets with decentralised finance, offering $NUSD – a yield-generating, capital-efficient synthetic dollar backed by discounted assets and delta-neutral strategies. Neutrl is led by a team with deep expertise in portfolio management, traditional finance, institutional crypto trading, and DeFi.

Disclaimer: The information provided in this press release is not a solicitation for investment, nor is it intended as investment advice, financial advice, or trading advice. It is strongly recommended you practice due diligence, including consultation with a professional financial advisor, before investing in or trading cryptocurrency and securities.