Monad Labs Joins Forces With Orderly Network Ahead of Testnet Launch

Monad, an Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) layer-1 blockchain about to launch its testnet, has joined forces with Orderly Network, a decentralized exchange (DEX)

Layer-1 blockchain Monad, which is gearing up for the launch of its testnet, has announced a partnership with Orderly Network, a decentralized exchange (DEX) infrastructure operating on the Near blockchain among others, as both platforms expand their footprints ahead of a potential second decentralized finance (DeFi) summer.

The launch of the Monad testnet on Wednesday will offer traders a high-speed building ground that is compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) and could potentially include airdrops on the L1. Orderly's network spans over 20 market makers, including Wintermute, Selini, and Riverside, as stated in a press release.

Companies in the decentralized trading space, such as major exchange Coinbase (COIN), are anticipating a surge in DeFi activity over the coming months, as the crypto-friendly administration of President Donald Trump is seen as providing a favorable regulatory environment for crypto. The first DeFi summer, which occurred in 2020, followed closely after the Federal Reserve's interest-rate cuts in response to the Covid outbreak.

Presently, Orderly provides users with a shared order book that operates across multiple blockchains, including Arbitrum, Optimism, Polygon, Base, Mantle, and Near.

“Orderly is an omni-chain trading infrastructure with a focus of solving for fragmented liquidity,” Chief Operating Officer Arjun Arora explained in an interview. “With more chains propping up day by day, liquidity continues to get fragmented across DeFi, TVL [total locked value] continues to get moved around.”

In April 2024, Monad Labs announced that it had secured $225 million in a funding round led by Paradigm.