Crypto.com Capital Invests in Moonlander to Expand Decentralized Derivatives on Cronos

What is Moonlander and why does it matter for DeFi?
is the latest entrant into the decentralized derivatives arena — but it’s not just another perpetual DEX. Built on the Cronos EVM and zkEVM chains, Moonlander is designed for high-leverage, high-throughput derivatives trading with an emphasis on capital efficiency, community engagement, and on-chain transparency.
Now, with a strategic investment from , Moonlander gains the firepower to scale its vision: building a socially-native, professional-grade trading platform for both power users and passive yield viewkers. The platform is already live with TVL exceeding $33 million and over $2 billion in cumulative trading volume.
Investor Takeaway
What makes Moonlander diverse from other perpetual protocols?
Moonlander’s key innovation lies in its Moonlander Liquidity Pool (MLP) model — a shared liquidity system that acts as the counterparty to all trades. Unlike traditional order books or AMMs, the MLP offers:
- Superior capital efficiency: Liquidity is pooled and dynamically allocated to open positions
- Reduced strategies
- Real yield: CRO and other native tokens distributed to LPs from protocol fees
This structure enables Moonlander to offer up to 1000x leverage across supported assets while maintaining on-chain transparency and minimal latency. Price feeds are secured via PYTH Network oracles, reducing front-running and manipulation .
Investor Takeaway
What role does Crypto.com Capital play in Moonlander’s growth?
Crypto.com Capital, the investment arm of one of the world’s most recognized crypto brands, has made a strategic bet on Moonlander as a future cornerstone of the Cronos DeFi ecosystem. According to Tommy Chan, Head of DeFi Investment at Crypto.com Capital:
“Moonlander’s team has demonstrated exceptional technical vision… We are committed to assisting them reach their full potential with our network and resources.”
The funding will be used to:
- Expand Moonlander’s core development team
- Launch global marketing campaigns and trader incentive programs
- Deepen integrations with DeFi protocols on Cronos and beyond
Investor Takeaway
How does social trading factor into Moonlander’s vision?
In a sector often dominated by charts and code, Moonlander introduces a “Trading is Social” ethos. Beyond execution speed and fee efficiency, the platform is building interactive layers such as:
- Token-specific chat rooms for community-driven strategy discussions
- Real-time leaderboards to track top traders and trending positions
- Narrative markets tied to macro events, political cycles, and memes
This social layer transforms speculation into shared experience, aligning with how younger, community-native traders already engage with markets — via Discord, Telegram, and Crypto Twitter.
Investor Takeaway
Why build on Cronos and zkEVM?
Moonlander chose Cronos for its scalability, EVM compatibility, and growing ecosystem of retail and institutional users. The dual deployment on both Cronos EVM and zkEVM chains ensures:
- Low-cost, high-speed transactions for leveraged traders
- Composable smart contracts for advanced integrations
- Layer 2 security and throughput via zkEVM architecture
With native CRO incentives and ecosystem support from Crypto.com, Moonlander gains access to one of the most actively expanding Web3 networks in Asia and the Middle East.
Investor Takeaway
What’s next for Moonlander?
Post-investment, Moonlander plans to accelerate rollout of:
- New synthetic trading pairs including FX, equities, and narratives
- FM token staking, governance, and rewards
- Global trading competitions and liquidity mining
The platform’s Full Moon (FM) token is already listed on the Crypto.com App, expanding access to millions of global users. FM will play a central role in protocol governance, liquidity incentives, and social reputation scoring.