Andre Cronje’s Flying Tulip secures $200M funding and plans public token sale, featuring unique redemption rights and zero team allocation upfront.
By José Rafael Peña Gholam
Editor Marco T. Lanz
Updated
3 mins read
Flying Tulip, a new on-chain financial marketplace led by Andre Cronje, has secured $200 million in a private funding round and announced an upcoming public sale of its $FT token at the same valuation.
This new initiative aims to deliver a unified market structure for digital assets, combining a native stablecoin, spot and derivatives trading, lending, and on-chain insurance in a cross-margin system designed for capital efficiency, all-in-one financial features on-chain.
The funding round saw participation from several global investors, including Brevan Howard Digital, CoinFund, DWF, FalconX, Hypersphere, Lemniscap, Nascent, Republic Digital, Selini, Sigil Fund, Susquehanna Crypto, Tioga Capital, and Virtuals Protocol.
— Lemniscap (@Lemniscap) September 29, 2025
The project is seeking up to $1 billion in total funding from both private and public sources, reflecting rising institutional confidence in the DeFi sector and renewed interest in projects led by Andre Cronje, similar to past successes with projects like Yearn Finance.
Flying Tulip’s primary-sale participants, both private and public, will receive an on-chain redemption right. This feature, described as a “perpetual put,” allows holders to redeem their tokens for up to their original principal in contributed assets, such as ETH, at any time.
Settlements are handled through a segregated on-chain redemption reserve funded by the capital raised. According to the announcement, this model is designed to “protect downside while preserving unlimited upside” for users.
A notable aspect of Flying Tulip’s tokenomics is that the team receives no initial allocation of tokens. Instead, team exposure is earned via open-market buybacks with protocol revenues. According to the press release, from day one, the incentives are tied to real usage and long-term performance. This approach aims to align the team’s interests strictly with the protocol’s actual utility and user adoption.
The forthcoming public sale will be hosted across multiple blockchains, with details on supported assets, circulating supply, and sale mechanics to be announced before launch.
Official smart contract addresses will be published exclusively on the Flying Tulip website to ensure participant security and transparency. The project cautions that participation may be subject to jurisdictional restrictions and that all on-chain redemption rights are capped by reserve availability and programmatic parameters.
Andre Cronje, best known for founding Yearn Finance and Sonic, is a recognized figure in decentralized finance. With Flying Tulip, Cronje is pursuing a model that offers both institutional-grade and on-chain guarantees. On the same day as this announcement, Sonic Labs appointed a new CEO and saw a rally of almost 5%, despite the crypto market, according to TradingView.
Graph of the price of the trading pair S/USD at CoinMarketCap. Source: TradingView
In the press release, he said, “Our goal is to provide institutional-grade market structure with on-chain guarantees and clear alignment between users, investors, and the team.” The platform also emphasizes user-controlled assets and compliance features such as OFAC screening and tax reporting to meet regulatory expectations.
Disclaimer: Coinspeaker is committed to providing unbiased and transparent reporting. This article aims to deliver accurate and timely information but should not be taken as financial or investment advice. Since market conditions can change rapidly, we encourage you to verify information on your own and consult with a professional before making any decisions based on this content.
José Rafael Peña Gholam is a cryptocurrency journalist and editor with 9 years of experience in the industry. He wrote at top outlets like CriptoNoticias, BeInCrypto, and CoinDesk. Specializing in Bitcoin, blockchain, and Web3, he creates news, analysis, and educational content for global audiences in both Spanish and English.