Phantom has hired the founding team behind Ventuals to aggressively expand its perpetual futures and data operations. The talent acquisition brings Ventuals co-founders Alvin Hsia and Emily Hsia, along with engineer Aris Samad, inside the leading self-custody crypto wallet. The move accelerates Phantom’s transition from a simple digital asset storage application into a comprehensive decentralized trading terminal.
Phantom executives explicitly clarified that the transition is strictly a talent acquisition, not a corporate buyout, according to The Defiant. But the company is not acquiring the Ventuals corporate entity or integrating its specific product infrastructure.
Prior to the transition, Ventuals operated as an experimental decentralized platform on the Hyperliquid HIP-3 framework. It allowed traders to take up to 20x margin positions on private company valuations—such as OpenAI, Anthropic, and SpaceX—using synthetic perpetual futures without those companies being publicly listed on stock exchanges.
Ventuals officially ceased operations and settled all open markets on June 15. Over its brief lifecycle, the platform processed more than $650 million in cumulative trading volume. Now, the team shifts focus to Phantom’s internal user base.
Phantom CEO Brandon Millman signaled the strategic direction regarding the new hires. “Open markets have become a major focus for us,” Millman stated, confirming the continued push into decentralized trading infrastructure.
How the Hyperliquid Integration Challenges MetaMask
The talent acquisition highlights a structural migration in global crypto trading. Derivative volume is rapidly exiting Centralized Exchanges (CEXs) in favor of on-chain Decentralized Exchanges (DEXs).
Phantom already operates as the largest distribution partner for the Hyperliquid ecosystem. By the end of the first half of the year, Phantom processed over $37 billion in perpetual trading volume directly through its native wallet interface. That growth timeline traces back precisely one year to July 2025, when Phantom initially launched its direct perpetual trading feature for EU users.
Hyperliquid alone processed $633 billion in trading volume in the first quarter. It captured roughly 32% of all on-chain perpetual volume.
Phantom’s accelerated development directly challenges rival self-custody provider MetaMask. MetaMask recently partnered with Hyperliquid to offer perpetual futures trading with up to 50x multiples directly within its own wallet. And that competitive pressure extends beyond purely crypto-native firms. Prediction market operator Kalshi recently launched its own perpetual futures business following regulatory approvals. That entry proves the derivatives format is rapidly expanding beyond its original boundaries into mainstream financial tooling.