Helix Trading Hub on Injective: What You Need to Know
Cosmos Perps, $ZRO pre-market futures, Solana Integration & more
Helix, a derivatives DEX, is one of the top applications on the Injective Network. It has a history dating back to 2021, when it was developed by Injective Labs to leverage the chains own orderbook, one of $INJ’s hallmark features.
The exchange’s interesting upgrades and additions, as well as tailwinds for Injective and the Cosmos ecosystem as a whole, have been of benefit to Helix, recently reached $18B in cumulative trading volume…
Stay alert, stay informed ⬇
Background on Injective
Injective likely needs no introduction; the Cosmos-based blockchain has seen a dramatic increase in price amidst the appchain narrative. The chain has also secured integrations with Revolut, a sizable grants program, and more.
In May, we published our Injective Analyst Insight. At this time, the chains TVL stood at ~$20M, with $INJ’s marketcap at ~$700M, a high Mcap/TVL ratio of 35. The chain’s total TVL has since doubled since then, standing at around $40m, still relatively small compared to $INJ’s $3.3B marketcap, for a Mcap/TVL ratio of 82.5. The gap between TVL and chain valuation continues to widen.
Many have pointed out this same criticism with Solana, to which some have rebutted that TVL is not representative of a chain’s activity. In the case of Injective, this may be especially true as the $INJ token is burned based on the revenue generated from fees. Because of this, volume is more important to $INJ burns than TVL. Injective’s fee value capture mechanism prescribes that 60% of all fees generated from dApps are directed to the chain’s buy-back-and-burn auction system.
So clearly, volume is important on Injective. To perhaps help justify the chain’s increased valuation, volume has increased a lot, even substantially more so than TVL. Injective sees considerably more volume than Sei, which can be considered a competitor as both chains operate an orderbook platform and exist as finance/trading focused L1s.
In the case of both Injective and Sei, both chains trading volume is dwarfed by the mostly speculative and CEX-driven volume of their respective tokens, $INJ and $SEI.
History of Helix
Helix got its start as Injective Pro, launching in late 2021. It was actually the first major application to be built on Injective. The application is a derivatives DEX, developed by Injective Labs to leverage Injective’s inherent orderbook. It quickly reached $4.5B in volume within a few months of launching:
Injective Pro v2 was subsequently launched, which introduced new UI upgrades, primarily. In September of 2022, Injective Pro’s transition to Helix was announced. With it came decentralized stop-limit orders, and other trading features, as well as an expressed desire to onboard institutions for trading.
“Helix has been meticulously designed to enable any user to seamlessly trade crypto assets across both spot and perpetual markets.”
- Eric Chen, CEO & Co-Founder of Injective
In May of last year, Helix captured over 80% of Injective’s total TVL. TVL-wise, the protocol has fallen to 2nd place on the chain overall. This spot is now claimed by DojoSwap, the 1st AMM Dex on Injective, while Helix uses the orderbook model. Helix still holds a notable $12M in TVL, accounting for 30% of the chain’s total TVL, although this is half that of DojoSwap. These two apps combined control over 90% of Injective’s TVL.
DojoSwap, which already has a live token in $DOJO, with a marketcap of over $11M, is the primary DEX of Injective. It focuses on spot swaps, providing liquidity, etc.
Meanwhile, Helix focuses on trading. The app offers a variety of perps markets for top coins and tokens, as well as spot markets. The exchange has been gaining traction lately, after seeing $200M+ in trading volume after listing $JUP & $ZRO pre-launch futures.
These pre-launch offerings are in demand, with platforms like Aevo (options) and Hyperliquid (perps) seeing boosts in activity after similar announcements for tokens like $MANTA, $PYTH, $JTO, and more.
Another key offering of Helix is its $SOL spot market; the native Injective bridge leverages Wormhole, making it possible to integrate Solana-based assets. This is actually a standout point of the Injective ecosystem as a whole, making it a potential hub for Solana asset trading within Cosmos.
Other Happenings on Injective
On the topic of Helix, it’s worth mentioning that another Injective ecosystem app is slated to launch; Hydro Protocol.
Users can liquid-stake $INJ for $hINJ and receive the project’s points at a rate of These points can then be redeemed for HDRO at TGE.
This project can help to diversify some of $INJ’s stake. Currently, two validators in Talis and Black Panther have seen dramatic increases in their staking share by incentivizing delegates with airdrops.
Hydro Protocol may be well received, similar to Milk Way liquid staking on Celestia, which we covered earlier this week. Celestia stakers already have had multiple significant airdrops thrown their way. A liquid staking program provides an alternative with ‘guaranteed’ rewards via points as opposed to blind staking and hoping for airdrops. This alternative is clearly attractive to some, as Milky Way’s TVL shot to $40M in around a month. This same playbook may now unfold on Injective. A DeFi application on Injective which introduces lending/borrowing or other applications for $hINJ will likely benefit, as Demex Exchange has with its integration of liquid staked $TIA.
With the integral role that Injective Pro/ Helix played in Injective's inception, it makes sense for Injective to power this protocol. This is especially true considering the success of liquid staking and points programs, or the combination of the two, in other ecosystems.
Injective has fetched a notable valuation, but the chain’s DeFi ecosystem is still relatively young. At first, some of its main projects were primarily those who left troubled ecosystems, including Astroport and BonFida, which left Terra and Solana, respectively. Injective provides its own bridge and staking hub, via the Injective Hub. Injective has considerable ecosystem funding programs:
Injective Astro is a 10M $INJ incentive program, worth about $380M at current prices.
Injective Venture Group is a $150M ecosystem initiative, which builders can apply for to receive funding.
Multiple Hackathons have been hosted, including the Injective Illuminate Hackathon in collaboration with Google Cloud, and Injective’s Global Virtual Hackathon.
Mantle is another chain gaining popularity whose team recognizes the impact that they can have by developing their own initial apps, setting an example for other teams to deploy or build original applications. The Mantle core team is building out MethLab, designed by Jordi Alexander, Alchemist at Mantle. It will be interesting to see how these chains, which have highly supportive and hands-on teams, develop and mature, and if they can create a loyal project ecosystem.
Important Links
Become a Premium member to unlock all our research & reports including access to our members-only discord server
Join thousands of sharp crypto investors & traders by becoming a Premium Member & gain an edge in the markets. For just $33.25/month you’ll get:
Premium access to the entire Revelo Intel platform
*NEW* Raise Alpha- Weekly reports on interesting project raises
*NEW* Sector Overviews - 90 day Reports with data and insights on key sectors
Launch Alpha - Weekly report highlighting new projects
The Trace - Real-time onchain alerts for smart money movements
Airdrop Guides - Reports on airdrop opportunities
Members Only Discord server
Analyst Insights reports - actionable trade ideas
Project Snapshots - Monthly protocol-specific performance reports
Project Breakdowns & Timelines - Deep dive 50+ page protocol-specific reports
Notes - Summaries of your favorite podcasts & AMAs