This initiative aims to usher in a new era of decentralized trading for prominent institutions, allowing them to access the benefits of a decentralized exchange (DEX) while adhering to regulatory frameworks. Within Helix Institutional, all markets will be permissioned, meaning that only whitelisted addresses that have passed KYC guidelines can interact and trade with one another.

The most popular markets on Helix today include Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Cosmos (ATOM) and Injective (INJ) perpetuals. Moving forward, institutions will also find on-chain indices, real world asset (RWA) and FX markets that are commonly not available within on-chain trading environments.

Helix utilizes Injective, an L1 built specifically for finance, in order to operate its DEX. Injective uniquely offers benefits to its dApps, such as frontrunning resistance through its innovative Frequent Batch Auction (FBA) model which eliminates the possibility for MEV. Through this model, orders placed on the orderbook are randomly added into the next block which ensures on-chain fairness for any dApp built on top of Injective. In addition, all components of the trade, from order matching to execution, occur on-chain, allowing every single step to be readily monitored.

The development of Helix Institutional arrives as demand for permissioned and compliant DeFi applications continues to rise. After the historic collapse of centralized finance exchanges such as FTX and lenders such as Genesis, more institutions are beginning to flock towards DeFi in order to ensure that they maintain custody over their assets, while retaining on-chain transparency.

Helix Institutional will take advantage of this familiar environment to enable larger financial entities to swiftly adapt and seize opportunities within the realm of DeFi, while still ensuring they meet the necessary regulatory requirements. Furthermore, Helix Institutional offers institutions the opportunity to capitalize on a wide-array of featured offerings, specifically including advanced order types, leverage and access to cross-chain assets.

“True on-chain trading will fundamentally reshape the world of traditional finance as we know it,” said Chris Choi, Product Lead at Helix. “Helix Institutional sets the stage for sophisticated parties to enter DeFi in a permissioned manner that was previously not possible. In turn, both on-chain capital inflows and usage can begin to rise in unison.”

Helix Institutional is set to launch with a number of prominent early traditional finance and Web3 partners, including, but not limited to, Pyth, IMC Trading, Anti Capital and Wormhole. These collaborative efforts aim to provide institutions with unparalleled on-chain liquidity and exposure to innovative financial products, enhancing their capabilities across web3.

"Over the past year, Helix cemented itself as a key venue for on-chain trading thanks to the high-speed and low-cost infrastructure provided by Injective,” said Marc Tillement, Director of Pyth Data Associaton. “After onboarding every-day DeFi users, the launch of Helix Institutional is the logical next step for the world of finance to migrate on-chain. We’re proud to see that the Pyth Network oracle infrastructure has played a significant role in making that happen.”

The launch of Helix Institutional represents a significant milestone in the evolution of decentralized trading. Helix continues to lead the charge in democratizing finance and redefining the traditional boundaries of institutional trading. As the adoption of blockchain technology and DeFi solutions continues to grow exponentially, Helix Institutional stands poised to facilitate a seamless transition for institutions into this dynamic ecosystem.