Phantom Brings on Ventuals Team to Push Perps Growth
Phantom is expanding its derivatives offering with the team behind Ventuals, which was known for onchain markets tied to private valuations. The move fits the rise of perps and Hyperliquid inside wallets.
Key Takeaways
- Phantom has brought on Alvin Hsia, Emily Hsia, and Aris Samad from Ventuals for its trading and data teams.
- Ventuals shut down its OpenAI and Anthropic markets this week and is being wound down inside the Hyperliquid ecosystem.
- Phantom is expanding into perpetual futures and says open markets are a major focus.
Phantom is leaning further into perpetual futures by hiring the team behind Ventuals. The crypto wallet has added Alvin Hsia, Emily Hsia, and Aris Samad, the founders behind the project that closed its OpenAI and Anthropic markets earlier this week.
New Role for the Ventuals Team
Phantom CEO Brandon Millman said the three are joining the company’s trading and data teams. Earlier this month, Ventuals said it would be wound down and absorbed into another project inside the Hyperliquid ecosystem. That effectively ended one of the better-known onchain experiments focused on private company valuations.
The hire also reflects a bigger shift in crypto trading. Perpetual futures have moved from a niche, crypto-native product to one of the industry’s core trading tools. Because they never expire and trade around the clock, they are used not only for crypto speculation but also for assets such as private companies and commodities.
Phantom Expands Its Trading Offering
Phantom is already known as one of crypto’s largest self-custody wallets, but it has been steadily adding swaps, staking, and derivatives. That fits a wider trend: wallets are no longer just places to store assets, and more of them are turning into full-featured trading apps for tokens and other investment products. Other wallets are moving in the same direction too: Trust Wallet recently started offering tokenized U.S. stocks directly in the app.
Millman said open markets are a key priority for Phantom. He pointed to Hyperliquid as one of the clearest examples of what open markets can enable, citing global liquidity and transparent onchain infrastructure. Phantom says it is now the largest distribution partner in the Hyperliquid ecosystem and plans to go even deeper into perpetual futures.
Why This Matters
For European crypto readers, the bigger takeaway is how quickly the line between wallet, exchange, and derivatives platform is fading. If major wallets keep adding trading features, users may be able to access perps and other products without needing a traditional crypto exchange in the middle.
It also shows that onchain trading infrastructure is increasingly being treated as a real alternative to centralized markets. That is relevant not just for Hyperliquid, but for any player betting on transparency, speed, and broader distribution of trading products.
