Paragon taps Susquehanna Crypto as its first institutional liquidity partner for on-chain perpetual markets

On-chain perpetual markets just got a credibility upgrade. Paragon, a platform building perpetual trading infrastructure on Hyperliquid, has selected Susquehanna Crypto as its inaugural institutional liquidity partner, a move that signals growing appetite from traditional trading heavyweights for DeFi-native market structure.

The announcement, made on July 15, also revealed that UFO Holdings, a venture firm founded by early employees of Kalshi along with traders and quants, has come in as an investor.

Why Susquehanna matters here

Susquehanna is recognized as one of the leading global proprietary trading operations in the digital asset space, with a well-established reputation for providing liquidity across multiple venues and asset classes.

For Paragon, which operates on-chain perpetual markets powered by Hyperliquid, having Susquehanna as the first institutional liquidity provider addresses one of the most persistent criticisms of decentralized perpetual platforms: thin order books. Perpetual contracts, by design, need to trade around the clock. That “always-on” requirement means liquidity can’t dry up at 2 AM without consequences. Slippage widens, funding rates get erratic, and traders leave.

Susquehanna’s role is to make sure there’s always someone on the other side of your trade, at a reasonable price, regardless of what time zone you’re in.

UFO Holdings and the Kalshi connection

The investor side of the announcement is equally telling. UFO Holdings isn’t a typical crypto VC. The firm was founded by early employees of Kalshi, the CFTC-regulated prediction market that spent years navigating US regulatory frameworks to offer event contracts on everything from elections to economic data releases.

UFO Holdings includes traders and quants alongside the Kalshi alumni.

The bigger picture for on-chain perpetuals

Hyperliquid has been one of the more successful attempts to change that equation, building a purpose-built Layer 1 optimized for trading performance. Paragon’s decision to build on top of Hyperliquid rather than a general-purpose chain is a deliberate bet on execution speed and throughput mattering more than ecosystem size.

Specific terms of the liquidity arrangement haven’t been disclosed, meaning the depth and consistency of Susquehanna’s commitment remains to be seen in practice.