Acquisition brings nearly a decade of decentralized exchange infrastructure into Katana as perpetual volumes surge and always-on markets redefine price discovery
March 23rd, 2026 9AM ET– Katana, a DeFi-first blockchain incubated by Polygon Labs and GSR, today announced the acquisition of IDEX, one of the earliest decentralized exchanges, alongside the launch of Katana Perps, a perpetual futures platform designed to unify spot and derivatives trading within a single onchain environment.
The acquisition marks the first major move under newly appointed CEO Matthew Fisher, who has driven Katana’s strategic expansion since joining the company, and reflects his vision to own more of the trading stack and capture the associated revenues.
The move comes as regulators in the U.S. signal a path toward allowing crypto perpetual futures, marking a potential inflection point for onchain derivatives. At the same time, trading activity continues to shift toward always-on markets, where price discovery increasingly happens in real time rather than within fixed trading hours.
As global markets adjust to a new reality, macro risk no longer waits for market hours, reinforcing the importance of continuous, always-on trading environments. That shift was visible this month when oil futures trading on Hyperliquid rose to $7.3 billion by March 13 during the Iran shock, underscoring how 24/7 venues are increasingly being used for real-time price discovery when traditional markets are closed.
Katana’s expansion into perpetuals is designed to capture that shift. By integrating spot liquidity, routing, and derivatives into a single stack, the decentralized Katana platform is designed to support continuous markets and more efficient capital deployment for both crypto-native and institutional participants.
Perpetuals have become one of the most important battlegrounds in onchain trading. In January 2026 alone, perp DEX volume reached $739.48 billion, while decentralized venues captured 10.2% of total crypto perpetuals trading, up sharply from 2.0% two years earlier. Katana’s acquisition of IDEX and launch of Katana Perps positions the company to meet that demand with a more integrated onchain trading environment. At launch, Katana Perps is supported by market makers including GSR, Selini Capital, and Auros. These firms assess trading infrastructure across dimensions, including counterparty and custody risk, reliability and uptime, and execution quality.
The move also reflects a broader shift in Katana’s strategy under Matthew Fisher, who has been named Chief Executive Officer of Katana, a role that formalizes the strategic ownership he has exercised since joining the company. Fisher architected Katana’s expansion strategy, including securing partnerships with OKX and Binance – making Katana the first DeFi project to run earn campaigns with both platforms simultaneously – and driving the acquisitions that position Katana to own more of the onchain trading stack.
Prior to taking a leadership role at Katana, he held positions across digital asset policy, ecosystem growth, and DeFi market infrastructure at the Diem Association (formerly Libra) and Polygon Labs, and previously served as Head of Business Development at Buttonwood, where he helped launch DeFi lending and yield products.
“When I became CEO, I decided that Katana needed to own more of its stack and the revenues attached to it. IDEX and Katana Perps are the first moves in that direction,” said Fisher. “As always-on markets become the default venue for real-time price discovery and the regulatory environment opens a path for onchain perpetuals, the infrastructure layer needs to be in place now. That is what we are building.”
“Matthew has been instrumental in building Katana into what it is today,” said Marc Boiron, CEO of Polygon Labs. “This next phase reflects both the strength of the foundation already in place and the growing demand for more advanced onchain trading infrastructure.”
Founded in 2017, IDEX was the first decentralized exchange to combine a high-performance matching engine with onchain settlement, and was the most active decentralized exchange on Ethereum through 2019, consistently ranking first by trading volume and transaction count among all DEX protocols. Its technology and operational track record – nearly a decade of live exchange infrastructure – will now underpin Katana Perps, enabling higher throughput execution and deeper liquidity as the platform scales.
Katana Perps is now live, introducing leveraged trading, directional exposure, and integrated liquidity within a unified trading environment. The platform is designed to support institutional-grade workflows while remaining accessible to crypto-native users.
Additional details regarding the transition of the existing IDEX product, the treatment of the IDEX token, and information for existing IDEX token holders will be shared through Katana and Katana Perps official channels.
About Katana
Incubated by Polygon Labs and GSR, Katana is a purpose-built DeFi blockchain that aligns applications, users, and chain revenue to deliver deep liquidity and sustainable yields. The network uses innovative mechanisms, including Vault Bridge, Chain-Owned Liquidity, and concentrated protocol deployment to maximize value for active users rather than extracting it. By taking an opinionated approach to DeFi infrastructure, Katana enables superior capital efficiency and user experience compared to traditional blockchain designs.
For more information, visit katana.network
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