Katana enters derivatives with IDEX acquisition… “Strengthening the chain’s revenue model”

Katana said on the 24th (local time) that it will launch its own derivatives product, “Katana Perps,” through the acquisition of decentralized exchange IDEX.

Through the deal, Katana plans to build out the perpetual futures market—DeFi’s highest-volume segment—directly within its own stack, strengthening the chain’s revenue model.

Katana pointed to “fragmented liquidity” as a core issue in existing blockchain architectures. Even within a single chain, protocols offering similar functions—AMMs, lending, staking and the like—proliferate, dispersing liquidity and ultimately hurting trading efficiency and the user experience.

In response, Katana adopted an integrated infrastructure architecture from the chain-design stage. Core functions such as spot trading, derivatives, lending, bridging and staking are provided in an integrated manner at the chain level, with individual applications built on top.

Katana also introduced tokenomics at the chain level and emphasized an economy grounded in real revenue. It currently operates five revenue streams: Vault Bridge, the chain’s own liquidity positions, sequencer fees, Agora AUSD and trading fees.

The IDEX acquisition is an extension of that strategy. Katana has built a structure that brings perps trading in-house—rather than relying on an external protocol—so that trading fees flow directly back into the chain’s ecosystem.

On Katana Perps, users trade using Vault Bridge USDC as collateral, and the resulting fees and settlement activity contribute directly to the chain’s revenue and liquidity. Katana said this will create a liquidity flywheel that extends across spot trading, lending and the broader application layer.

Katana also took a critical stance toward existing chain models, arguing that if core functions such as trading, lending and staking depend on external protocols, the chain cannot control the user experience or its revenue model.

“What matters is not the number of chains, but who controls the stack,” Katana said, adding that “there needs to be a structure where core infrastructure is built in-house and applications create differentiated value on top of it.”

Katana also left open the possibility of further acquisitions. Starting with the IDEX deal, it plans to continue internalizing key infrastructure areas and expand the ecosystem.