DeFi derivatives protocol Cega to sunset platform by end of year following acquisition

Cega, a leading on-chain exotic options and structured investment products protocol, has announced it is being acquired by a "leading platform" and will sunset its operations by the end of the year. 

Cega, which operates across Solana, Ethereum, and Ethereum Layer 2 network Arbitrum, claims to be the first to bring exotic options to DeFi with its initial Solana launch in June 2022. While regular options allow users to buy or sell an underlying asset at a specific price and time, exotic options are more customized and typically have additional conditions attached.

"Cega’s original vision was to build the next evolution in DeFi derivatives. Today, we are excited to announce that we’ve been acquired by a leading platform to continue driving this vision forward," Cega's X account posted on Wednesday. "Our team is immensely proud to have been the first to bring exotic options to DeFi, to have processed half a billion in volume, and to safely protect user funds for 3 years."

Cega's platform is no longer accepting deposits, and the protocol urged users to begin withdrawals as the protocol's products will sunset by the end of the year. 

Cega's team did not disclose which "leading platform" is acquiring the DeFi protocol or for how much. "The acquirer chooses to keep this private," one team member wrote in Cega's Discord.

When Cega raised $5 million in new funding in March 2023, as The Block previously reported, its valuation was somewhere north of $60 million. However, Cega co-founder and CEO Arisa Toyosaki declined to comment on the exact valuation. 

"[W]hile this is the end of cega as you know it, the mission to push the boundaries of defi lives on and you may see us popping back up somewhere else," Toyosaki wrote on X.