Velvet Capital

Velvet Capital is an AI-powered onchain trading and portfolio management terminal that consolidates spot trading, perpetual contracts, yield strategies, and portfolio management into a single vertically integrated platform. Founded in 2022, the project has evolved into what it calls a "DeFAI operating system" — combining decentralized finance infrastructure with AI-driven automation to help retail traders, funds, and DAOs execute strategies across multiple blockchains without switching between tools.

The Problem

DeFi trading has historically been fragmented: a trader might use one application to discover trending tokens, another to chart prices, a third for executing swaps, and yet another to manage a portfolio across chains. Each handoff creates friction, exposes users to suboptimal routing, and makes coordinated strategy execution difficult. Velvet Capital's thesis is that consolidating research, analysis, execution, and portfolio management into one interface — enhanced by AI — removes this overhead and gives users consistently better outcomes.

How It Works

Velvet operates as a non-custodial platform: users connect their own wallets and trade directly from them, without depositing funds onto a centralized exchange. The core execution layer uses intent-based routing, directing trades across aggregators, solvers, market makers, AMMs, and DEXes to obtain competitive pricing while incorporating MEV protection to guard against sandwich attacks and front-running.

The platform's AI layer, called Velvet Unicorn, is a multi-agent system organized into specialized roles — a Researcher, Analyst, and Trader — that work together to handle natural-language queries, synthesize on-chain data, generate trade signals, and ultimately propose fully-constructed transactions for the user to approve. A user can ask in plain English which tokens are trending on a given chain, and Velvet Unicorn will surface insights and prepare an executable trade, which requires explicit wallet approval before any funds move.

Key Products

Trading Terminal — The flagship interface features TradingView charting, advanced order types, real-time analytics, and a "Trenches" section for newly launched tokens sourced from platforms like Pump.fun. The terminal routes trades across deep liquidity pools on all supported networks and offers up to 100% trading fee cashback for high-volume users and stakers through a tiered program.

Onchain Vaults — Velvet allows users to create or follow non-custodial onchain vaults — shared portfolio structures where followers receive identical execution quality without slippage or front-running risks associated with copy-trading on centralized platforms. Vault creators can configure fee structures, whitelists, and DeFi integrations.

AI Automation Framework — Beyond the Unicorn copilot, Velvet supports autonomous 24/7 AI agent trading strategies that users can configure from natural-language prompts. These agents can monitor markets, execute rebalances, and implement strategies continuously without manual intervention.

Telegram Bot — A Telegram-native interface that brings AI trading and execution capabilities directly into messaging workflows, targeting traders who operate in social environments. The bot is available on Solana, Base, and BNB Chain.

White-Label Infrastructure — The platform exposes APIs and customizable front-end tooling for funds and projects that want to build branded DeFi applications on Velvet's execution and portfolio infrastructure.

Mobile Accessibility — The VelvetX interface is available as an iPhone home screen app, providing one-tap access to the trading terminal.

Solana Integration

Velvet supports Solana as one of its core chains alongside Base, Ethereum, BNB Chain, Hyperliquid, Monad, and Sonic. For Solana liquidity, the platform integrates with Jupiter and DFlow — two of the leading DEX aggregators in the Solana ecosystem — to provide deep routing across Solana's AMMs and liquidity pools. The platform has run Solana-first trading competitions, and Solana is included in the Telegram bot's supported chains. Velvet's intent-based execution model maps well to Solana's fast, low-cost transaction environment.

Security and Audits

Velvet has completed seven independent security audits across its smart contract infrastructure, conducted by PeckShield, Spearbit, Softstack, Resonance Security, and Shellboxes, with an open competitive audit hosted on Hats Finance. Runtime monitoring is handled via Forta, with smart contract operations managed through OpenZeppelin Defender. The platform integrates Webacy for real-time risky token alerts and maintains an active bug bounty program on Immunefi. The non-custodial architecture limits counterparty risk, as user funds remain in user-controlled wallets throughout.

Funding and Backing

In July 2025, Velvet Capital raised $3.7 million in a funding round led by YZi Labs (formerly Binance Labs) and Blockchain Founders Fund. Additional strategic backers include DWF Labs, DWF Ventures, Gate Labs, Selini Capital, Mucker Capital, Cointelegraph Accelerator, LucidBlue Ventures, PAKA Fund, FunFair Ventures, and Gains Associates, among others. As of mid-2025, the platform reported over 100,000 users and more than $200 million in spot trading volume processed.

Token

The VELVET token serves as the platform's governance and utility token. Holders can stake it as veVELVET (vote-escrowed) for up to four years, with lock periods subject to linear decay. Stakers receive real yield from platform revenue buybacks, additional token emissions, trading fee discounts, referral bonuses, access to partner airdrops, and governance voting rights. A companion token, VU, functions as the gas token for AI inference within the Velvet Unicorn framework; VU revenue is split between burning, R&D funding, and distributions to veVELVET stakers.

Ecosystem Position

Velvet Capital positions itself at the intersection of the DeFAI category — tools that layer AI agents on top of DeFi infrastructure — and professional trading tooling. Its multi-chain scope means Solana is one node in a broader network rather than the exclusive focus, but the Jupiter and DFlow integrations ensure that Solana users have access to native liquidity depth. For Solana ecosystem participants, Velvet represents a portal to unified cross-chain execution from a single, AI-augmented interface.