Solana decentralized exchange Orca and lending protocol Loopscale are combining under a new company, Formation, in a deal aimed at bringing trading, credit and vault services together for companies in sectors including artificial intelligence, energy, robotics and defense. The financial terms were not disclosed.
Formation will be headquartered in New York and led by Loopscale co-founder Luke Truitt as chief executive. Fellow Loopscale co-founder Mary Gooneratne will serve as chief operating officer, while Orca executive Christopher Montagano will become chief strategy and legal officer. The companies announced the merger on Wednesday, according to Decrypt.
Combining trading and lending infrastructure
The merger brings together Orca’s decentralized trading infrastructure and Loopscale’s credit order book and vaults. Formation says the combined platform could allow an issuer to launch an asset with trading and credit functions available from the outset.
The companies describe the new business as a full-stack decentralized finance platform, with liquidity solutions, lending and borrowing, credit markets and vault products integrated in one operation.
Orca says it has processed more than $550 billion in trading volume since its launch in February 2021. Loopscale reports more than $150 million in deposits and over $2 billion in loans facilitated. Those figures are the companies’ own reported totals.
Orca raised an $18 million Series A in September 2021. Loopscale, which previously operated under the name Bridgesplit, raised $4.25 million that year from investors including CoinFund, Jump, Coinbase Ventures, Solana Ventures and Room40.
Focus on financing real-world sectors
Formation is targeting businesses in artificial intelligence, energy, robotics and defense. The company says these industries can have financing requirements that are not well served by traditional markets.
Truitt presented the merger as a response to the need for financial infrastructure to develop alongside major technology industries. The company’s planned offering is intended to connect capital allocation with the trading and credit tools already operated by the two Solana-based businesses.
Formation is also exploring a tokenized securities venue under the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s five-year Innovation Exemption issued on September 17. The order allows venues for tokenized U.S.-listed stocks to use permissioned automated market maker pools without registering as exchanges, according to the companies’ announcement.
Formation says it intends to operate such a venue and seek additional licenses. Its plans remain subject to legal and regulatory requirements, and the company said some products may not be available to U.S. persons. Orca has spent nearly two years engaging with securities and commodities regulators, the announcement said.
Existing products and next steps
Loopscale’s lending, borrowing, vault and order-book services will continue operating, and existing positions will not change. ORCA will be the token used across Formation; Loopscale does not plan to issue a separate token. Loopscale points will continue accruing and are expected to convert later this year.
During the next 12 months, Formation plans to add issuer tools and new capital-allocation strategies alongside its current trading, lending and vault products.
Market picture
Moneyiar market data at 9:43-9:44 p.m. on October 8, 2026, showed Solana (SOL) at $110.1125260869, down 4.75% over 24 hours and 6.32% over seven days. Ethereum Name Service (ENS) was $6.2177753699, down 3.53% and 9.19%, respectively. Compound (COMP) stood at $23.3111531771, up 1.15% in 24 hours and down 1.56% over seven days. Four (FORM) was $0.2646463121, up 0.74% over 24 hours but down 7.24% over seven days.
