Vest Labs

Vest Labs operates as a quantitative research firm and financial infrastructure company developing the Vest Exchange, a decentralized perpetual futures exchange. The company was established to address what it identifies as critical inefficiencies in both traditional and decentralized financial markets, such as fragmented risk assessment, high barriers to market entry for new assets, and unclear risk-return profiles for liquidity providers. Based in Seattle and founded in 2022, the firm is led by CEO Justin Ma.

The company's core product is its universal risk engine, designed to price risk across various markets and financial products in real-time. This engine utilizes blockchain technology and zero-knowledge proofs to create a neutral, verifiable pricing mechanism. This system aims to enable market participants to share risk data without exposing proprietary information, fostering greater capital efficiency and fairer pricing. As a proof of concept for its risk engine, Vest Labs launched Vest Exchange on the Arbitrum network. The exchange allows traders to speculate on perpetual futures for a wide range of assets, including those typically considered illiquid, with a user-driven process for proposing new markets.

Vest Exchange differentiates itself by using its proprietary risk engine to provide consistent liquidity and transparent risk pricing, aiming to offer lower slippage and spreads compared to other decentralized exchanges. The business model focuses on creating a more stable and predictable trading environment, which in turn attracts traders and liquidity providers. Revenue is generated from trading activities on the platform, although it aims to reduce the high fees often used by other exchanges to compensate liquidity providers for unclear risks. The company has successfully secured $5 million in seed funding from prominent investors including Jane Street, QCP Capital, Amber Group, and Big Brain Holdings to advance the development of its risk engine and expand its product offerings to institutional clients.

Keywords: Vest Exchange, Vest Labs, decentralized finance, perpetual futures, Arbitrum DEX, crypto derivatives, risk management, universal risk engine, zero-knowledge proofs, institutional crypto, Justin Ma, quantitative research, decentralized exchange, liquidity provisioning, crypto trading, blockchain infrastructure, financial engineering, zkRisk engine, market microstructure, capital efficiency