Phantom has tapped the team behind Ventuals as it doubles down on perpetual futures, signaling a stronger push into trading beyond its core wallet business. Phantom CEO Brandon Millman confirmed that Ventuals creators Alvin Hsia, Emily Hsia and Aris Samad have joined Phantom’s trading and data teams. Millman said he’s followed their work for a long time and welcomed the trio to the company, which has been expanding its product footprint from a self-custody wallet into swaps, staking and derivatives. Ventuals was a closely watched Hyperliquid experiment that offered perpetual futures tied to private-company valuations — including markets linked to AI firms such as OpenAI and Anthropic — before those specific products were shut down as the project wound down. The team had previously said it would fold into another project inside the Hyperliquid ecosystem; Phantom’s hires bring that market expertise directly to its growing trading operation. Perpetual futures are a marquee product in crypto derivatives: contracts with no expiry that can remain open so long as margin requirements are met. Their continuous availability, deep liquidity and flexible market design have made perps a go-to instrument for traders and a useful vehicle for pricing assets that aren’t listed on conventional exchanges — including synthetic or private-company exposures. Phantom’s move comes as it positions itself as a distribution hub inside the Hyperliquid ecosystem. Millman described Hyperliquid as a strong example of what open, onchain markets can enable and said Phantom plans to keep building around perpetuals, having already “gone deep” into perps and intending to push further. Bringing the Ventuals team on board is meant to accelerate Phantom’s development of trading products connected to that ecosystem. The hires arrive at a time when perpetual futures are attracting attention beyond crypto-native venues. Traditional platforms are testing always-on derivatives too — for example, Kalshi launched its own perpetual futures offering last month after clearing regulatory hurdles — underscoring a broader industry move to make perps a mainstream trading tool. Bottom line: Phantom’s acquisition of Ventuals talent is a clear signal that wallets are evolving into full-featured trading platforms, and that perpetual futures remain central to the next wave of onchain market innovation. Read more AI-generated news on: undefined/news