Cryptocurrency startup Neutrl raises $5 million to tokenize popular hedge fund Altcoin Trade

Neutrl Raises $5M to Tokenize Renowned Hedge Fund Altcoin Trade

Neutrl co-founder Berin Naidou shared in an interview that the protocol's NUSD token generates profits through arbitrage of locked altcoins in the $10 billion private market.

Author: Christian Sandor | Edited by: Stephen Alpher Updated: April 16, 2025, 3:11 PM Published: April 16, 2025, 3:10 PM

Key points:

• Neutrl has raised $5 million to make hedge fund-style cryptocurrency yield strategies available to a wider audience through a single token.
• Inspired by the success of Ethena, NUSD is a synthetic dollar token based on OTC altcoin arbitrage and delta-neutral hedging.
• Backed by STIX, Accomplice, and crypto veterans, Neutrl is targeting the $10 billion locked-token market as DeFi yields continue to remain low.

New decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol Neutrl aims to make hedge fund trading, previously reserved for experienced investors, accessible to a wider audience in the form of a crypto token.

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The project's team told CoinDesk in an exclusive interview that the protocol is launching a “synthetic dollar” token called NUSD, designed to generate profits through discounted altcoin arbitrage on over-the-counter (OTC) markets.

Neutral also raised $5 million in seed funding led by private digital asset marketplace STIX and venture capital firm Accomplice. Participants also include Amber Group, SCB Limited, Figment Capital, and Nascent, as well as a number of crypto angel investors including Ethena founder Guy Yang and derivatives trader Joshua Lim of Arbelos Markets, which was recently acquired by FalconX.

Tokenized Hedge Fund Strategy

Neutrl is the latest addition to a rapidly growing number of protocols offering hedge fund-like investment strategies wrapped in a price-stable token, often referred to as a “synthetic dollar.” The $6 billion DeFi protocol Ethena has led the way, providing token holders with yield by holding spot cryptocurrencies and shorting perpetual futures to form a funding rate.

Read more: Resolv Labs Raises $10M Amid Crypto Investor Interest in Income Stablecoins

Neutrl is structured to acquire locked altcoins at discounted prices on private markets and then hedge risks using perpetual futures. For example, a trader can buy Solana's SOL or Avalanche's AVAX at a 20% discount from the fund and simultaneously short the token. The returns come from the price gap, not from market fluctuations.

Neutrl co-founder Berin Naidoo explained in an interview that it is a popular hedge fund investment strategy that has delivered high double-digit returns to experienced investors who prefer to avoid betting on cryptocurrency price movements.

However, instead of managing these trades manually, Neutral users can simply hold one token, NUSD, which implements the strategy, opening it up to a wider audience, he noted.

Neutral estimates that with the expected flow of unlocks al

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