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Unchained

How Onchain Options Could Replace the Basis Trade as Crypto's Yield Strategy

April 14 · 55 min
0:00-55:29

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The basis trade paid 15–30% near risk-free for years. Options couldn't compete. Then 10/10 happened.

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For years, the basis trade and token-launch points farming crowded out options as a yield tool in crypto — not because options were inferior, but because the alternatives were simply too easy and too lucrative. 

That changed on 10/10. With the basis trade effectively dead and altcoin valuations cratered, a window has opened for onchain options to compete for capital in a way they never could before. 

Nick Forster, CEO of Derive (formerly Lyra), has been building toward this moment for five years. He joins LTR, venture investor at Cosmos, who has tracked the full graveyard of failed options DEXes — Opyn, HEGIC, Ribbon, Dopex, Strike — and still believes this time is different. The question isn't whether crypto options will scale. It's whether the infrastructure is finally ready.


Host:

Guests:

Timestamps 🚀 0:00 How crypto derivatives evolved from spot to perps to options 🏛️ 4:13 How Deribit built options liquidity — and why Coinbase paid $2.9B ⚰️ 13:53 The graveyard: Opyn, HEGIC, Ribbon, Dopex — why they all failed 🏗️ 15:55 Why Nick built Derive on the premise that complexity is a feature 📉 26:02 How the basis trade's death cleared the field for options yield 🌐 31:35 What onchain options look like when tokenized stocks arrive 🤖 40:32 Why Nick thinks AI agents are the killer app for options at scale 🏦 43:53 The institutional pitch: custody, fees, and milestones to watch

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