Two established Solana decentralized finance protocols, the exchange Orca and the lending platform Loopscale, have combined under a single company named Formation. The new entity, headquartered in New York, seeks to create integrated capital markets infrastructure for industries including artificial intelligence, energy, robotics and defense.

Loopscale co-founder Luke Truitt will serve as chief executive officer. Fellow Loopscale co-founder Mary Gooneratne has been named chief operating officer, while Christopher Montagano of Orca assumes the role of chief strategy and legal officer. Financial terms of the merger were not disclosed.

Combined Infrastructure and Scale

Formation integrates Orca’s trading and liquidity tools with Loopscale’s credit order book and investment vaults. The structure is designed to allow asset issuers to access trading and credit capabilities from the outset. Existing Orca and Loopscale products will continue to operate without interruption. Positions, loans, vault deposits, fees and rewards remain unchanged for users.

Orca has processed more than $550 billion in trading volume since its launch in 2021. Loopscale reports more than $150 million in deposits and has facilitated over $2 billion in loans. Both protocols will continue to form the foundation of the ORCA and xORCA token networks.

Token Framework and User Continuity

ORCA will serve as the sole token for the Formation ecosystem. Loopscale will not issue a separate token. The Loopscale points program remains active, with conversion expected later this year once additional details are released.

Orca raised $18 million in a Series A round in 2021. Loopscale, previously known as Bridgesplit, raised $4.25 million that same year from investors including CoinFund, Jump, Coinbase Ventures, Solana Ventures and Room40.

Expansion into Frontier Industries

Formation aims to address financing gaps for companies in capital-intensive sectors where traditional markets often prove costly or inflexible for smaller or non-standardized deals. Apollo has estimated that artificial intelligence infrastructure alone may require nearly $3 trillion through 2028, with a substantial portion expected from external capital sources.

Over the next 12 months the company plans to introduce tools for asset issuers and additional capital allocation strategies alongside its existing trading, lending and vault products. Formation is already collaborating with Figure, Shinhan Asset Management, Superstate, R3 and Securitize to bring additional assets onchain and broaden distribution.

Christopher Montagano noted that liquidity alone has proven insufficient for asset scale and that the combination of credit and distribution capabilities addresses a core challenge.

Regulatory Path and Future Capabilities

Formation is exploring opportunities under the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s five-year Innovation Exemption, which permits certain tokenized securities venues to operate permissioned automated market maker pools for tokenized U.S.-listed stocks without full exchange registration. The company intends to pursue additional licenses and build toward access to regulated U.S. capital markets, drawing on Orca’s prior engagement with securities and commodities regulators.

Planned products remain subject to legal and regulatory requirements and may not be available in all jurisdictions or to U.S. persons. The merger positions Formation to span origination, issuance, liquidity, credit and distribution for tokenized assets while maintaining continuity for current protocol users.