I just noticed a pretty interesting move from Derive — this onchain options trading platform is preparing for a major breakthrough to catch up with industry giants.

According to co-founder Nick Forster’s proposal, they want to double the DRV supply by issuing an additional 500 million tokens. This amount will be managed by Derive Fund, which is responsible for the project's long-term strategy. Forster argues that this move is necessary to compete with the giants, citing examples like Coinbase’s $2.9 billion acquisition of Deribit to illustrate the scale that Derive needs to achieve.

A significant detail is that they have just secured an important agreement regarding custody and institutional-level liquidity, although specific details have not yet been disclosed. About half of the new tokens will be allocated to the core team, but with strict restrictions — they will be gradually unlocked over four years and can only be sold when DRV’s market cap exceeds $150 million. Currently, DRV is trading at around $0.07 with a circulating market cap of approximately $74 million.

For investors, the dilution will be controlled at over 8% annually over four years, so it’s not too bad.

This development has sparked quite a bit of controversy because Derive previously committed to maintaining a stable supply when transitioning from LYRA to DRV, with a cap set at one billion tokens. But Forster insists that the new issuance is necessary for growth and to retain talent as competitors scale up.

This isn’t the first time Derive has had to adjust its plans. A few months ago, an attempted merger with Synthetix failed in May after investor opposition, leading to significant changes in both personnel and investor structure. With this new strategy, Derive is betting that additional token power will help them secure a key position in the onchain market, dominated by larger rivals with better market capitalization.