Elixir

Elixir is a modular Delegated Proof of Stake blockchain network providing liquidity infrastructure for decentralized order book exchanges. The network lets users contribute funds directly to order books, earning yield in return, while decentralized exchanges get the deep liquidity reserves they need without relying on centralized market makers. Think of it as a cooperative water supply: instead of one company controlling all the pipes, thousands of contributors fill the reservoir everyone drinks from.

Order book exchanges are the preferred trading format for serious traders because they allow precise pricing, unlike the automated market maker pools powering most DeFi platforms. The problem is order books require active, sophisticated market makers to stay liquid, and historically those market makers have been centralized institutions with proprietary algorithms. Elixir abstracts that complexity, letting retail users provide liquidity to order books the same way they supply funds to a Uniswap pool, while the protocol handles technical execution algorithmically.

Elixir has integrated with more than 30 leading decentralized exchanges, including Vertex, RabbitX, Bluefin, Apex, and Orderly Network. It supplies over $1.25 billion in funding capacity and provides nearly 50% of the liquidity on several platforms. This level of market penetration reflects genuine product-market fit, not just a roadmap.

Beyond liquidity provision, Elixir launched deUSD, its fully collateralized synthetic dollar. deUSD is backed by MakerDAO’s USDS treasury bill protocol and stETH. The network uses these to short ETH perpetuals, creating a delta-neutral position that maintains stability. This positions Elixir as a direct alternative to Ethena’s USDe but with a fully decentralized execution layer instead of relying on centralized parties. Elixir is the most widely adopted network by real-world asset protocols, exclusively bringing institutional funds from BlackRock and Hamilton Lane into DeFi for the first time through deUSD.

Elixir was founded by Philip Forte, who previously served as a partner at BlockVenture Coalition and an institutional asset management analyst at PNC Financial Services. The protocol launched in 2022. In January 2023, Elixir raised $2.1 million in a seed round from investors including FalconX, OP Crypto, Chapter One, Arthur Hayes, and MH Ventures. In October 2023, the company raised $7.5 million in a Series A led by Hack VC, with NGC Ventures, AngelList Ventures, Bloccelerate, Ledger Prime, and Genesis Trading joining the round. This valued the protocol at $100 million.

In March 2024, Elixir raised $8 million in a Series B co-led by Mysten Labs and Maelstrom, Arthur Hayes’ family office. Manifold, Amber Group, GSR, and Flowdesk also participated. The Series B valued Elixir at $800 million, a substantial increase from the $100 million valuation five months earlier. This jump reflects how quickly the protocol’s positioning shifted from promising infrastructure to essential DeFi plumbing.

The backer list matters for a specific reason. Maelstrom and Arthur Hayes bring deep relationships with centralized and decentralized exchanges worldwide. GSR and Amber Group are among the largest crypto market-making firms. Having those who historically monopolized market making as investors in a protocol that decentralizes it is a meaningful signal of industry acceptance.

ELX is Elixir’s native token, and it serves two core functions in the network. All validators and nodes must stake a specific number of ELX tokens to maintain their operational status, making it the cryptoeconomic security layer for the entire protocol. The second function is governance: ELX holders vote on proposals that determine the network’s future direction, fee structures, and integrations. The network is secured by over 30,000 global validators, making it one of the more decentralized validator sets in DeFi. As deUSD expands and more order book exchanges integrate Elixir, every new unit of volume processed through the network increases the demand for validators, and by extension the demand for ELX staking.

ELX trades on centralized cryptocurrency exchanges for standard purchases. For large token amounts, locked tokens, or SAFT notes, Acquire.Fi’s OTC and Secondaries Marketplace is the right venue.

You can buy Elixir tokens OTC on Acquire.Fi by engaging with existing sell listings in the marketplace, or you can submit a new Buy listing with your preferred valuation and token amount.

You can also sell Elixir tokens OTC if you hold a position and want to exit. Browse existing Buy listings to find a match, or submit a new Sell listing with your asking price and the amount you want to move.

From there, Acquire.Fi takes over the process. The team runs background checks, issues NDAs, and makes the introduction. You and your counterparty own due diligence and payment settlement, and Acquire.Fi stays involved on both sides to help close the deal.