Summary
eToro has taken the lead position in a $12.5M funding round for Extended, an onchain perpetual futures exchange built on Starknet (ZK-rollup on Ethereum). The deal signals eToro's accelerating push into decentralized finance infrastructure, following its $70M acquisition of Zengo (self-custody wallet) in April 2026. The intended architecture connects eToro's 40M registered users → Zengo for self-custody → Extended for derivatives trading — all without users leaving a regulated perimeter.
Key Facts
- eToro leads $12.5M round in Extended (formerly X10); Jump Crypto, Alber Blanc co-invest
- Extended: onchain perps on Starknet, 100+ markets (crypto, FX, indices, gold, oil), 100x leverage
- Cumulative volume: $245B+ as of June 2026; maker fees 0%, taker fees 0.025%
- Founded by Ruslan Fakhrutdinov (ex-Revolut crypto head)
- Follows eToro's $70M Zengo acquisition (April 2026) — self-custody MPC wallet, 2M users, 180 countries
- Architecture: eToro (40M users) → Zengo (self-custody) → Extended (DeFi perps)
- Zengo sits outside eToro's MiCA license by design — self-custodial wallets fall outside regulatory perimeter
- DEX perp market share: 10.2% (up from 2.0%); Hyperliquid share dropped from 80% to ~38%
Why It Matters
eToro is building a regulated onramp to DeFi — a model that could become the template for how traditional brokers offer decentralized finance access to mainstream users. By acquiring Zengo (self-custody) and investing in Extended (onchain perps), eToro creates a pipeline where users can trade DeFi derivatives without leaving a familiar interface. The MiCA perimeter strategy (regulated custody in Cyprus, self-custody via Zengo outside MiCA) is a blueprint for other brokers navigating the regulatory divide between CeFi and DeFi.