DWF Labs and Falcon Finance Founder Andrei Grachev: Market Shifts to Traditional Financial Crypto Derivatives
DWF Labs and Falcon Finance head Andrei Grachev stated in Seoul that this year, activity has shifted from crypto to traditional finance and its crypto derivatives; there is much to be done and built, but all are new. He wrote: Since it is not surprising that ICOs have disappeared, it should not be surprising that the market has changed.
The remarks were made during Korea Blockchain Week 2026. DWF Labs Haus held an event in Seoul on the evening of September 29, commemorating the one-year anniversary of Falcon Finance. At the same time, he participated in a discussion at CONNECT Seoul about perpetual contracts and the migration of on-chain liquidity in Asia. The company’s website positions Falcon Finance as a universal collateral infrastructure, stating that over $2 billion of USDf is in circulation.
DWF Labs is an extension of Swiss high-frequency trader Digital Wave Finance, which expanded internationally in 2022 under a Singapore entity, with Grachev serving as managing partner. Its business covers market making, OTC, listing assistance, and venture capital. Binance Research reported that it led 39 rounds of investment totaling $324 million from Q3 2022 to Q3 2023, making it the most active crypto venture capital at that time; its portfolio has since expanded to over 1,000 projects and it provides market making for spot and derivatives on about 60 centralized and decentralized exchanges. The Korean direction has long been emphasized separately: it has listed Upbit, Bithumb, and Coinone as supported venues and stated that foreign entities must follow compliance paths to market make in Korea.
Its public strategy has shifted from token launches to institutional phase infrastructure. In November 2025, DWF launched a self-proclaimed $75 million proprietary DeFi fund, with investment directions stated as liquidity, settlement, credit, and on-chain risk management. At Blockchain Life 2025, he discussed “liquidity wars,” stating that over $22 billion was liquidated in the market within 31 days without a single crash; on the Falcon side, it has halted TVL incentive discounts and reduced pump-and-dump marketing, shifting towards arbitrage and leading CDP loans with options structures and RWA. He also compared Hyperliquid as a contrast to “trading first, tokens later.”
The market structure comparison shows that as ICOs as a public fundraising entry shrink, trading and institutional attention have shifted to crypto derivatives on traditional brokerage channels, as well as products that move stocks, credit, and collateral on-chain. Grachev noted the change in foot traffic at the Seoul venue as evidence of this shift, rather than providing new trading statistics.
Mechanically, sellers are market makers and incubators charging fees based on token issuance and market making contracts, while buyers are funds requiring perpetual, RWA collateral, and institutional-level clearing. The flow has shifted from “investing in new coins and market making” to “providing crypto-wrapped derivatives and collateral for traditional risk markets.” Beneficiaries are traders who can operate both traditional derivatives channels and on-chain collateral; those under pressure are projects that still rely solely on ICOs and points for TVL as their only income. This narrative is driven by observations at the venue, not by single liquidation events or regulatory fines.
On a supplementary level: After DWF Haus, the next stop is a similar cocktail party at TOKEN2049 in Singapore on October 6, where Grachev is scheduled to give a keynote speech on October 7 and participate in discussions on stablecoin payments and family office “old money, new bets.” These itineraries connect the theme of “TradFi plus crypto derivatives” from Seoul into a continuous roadshow.
Source: Public Information
ABAB AI Insight
Grachev transitioned from Huobi Russia and VRM.trade to DWF by negotiating rates with exchanges and providing liquidity for project listings, rather than inventing protocols. During the rapid expansion of the portfolio in 2023, criticism focused on the overlap between market making and venture capital roles: investing in tokens while also managing the market. Falcon Finance is where he has applied the same liquidity capabilities to create synthetic dollars and collateral layers, using USDf instead of "issuing another governance token." This statement in Seoul essentially announces that paying clients have shifted from public chain projects seeking listings to traditional funds requiring derivatives and collateral.
Capital mobilization involves self-managed funds plus market making inventory. The $75 million DeFi fund invests in settlement and risk control, not in new rounds of initial allocations; Falcon halted TVL rebates because incentives from locked positions evaporated first during liquidation waves. The significance of the Seoul venue is heightened due to local exchanges experiencing high volatility and foreign capital restrictions; only those who can comply can bring TradFi orders into crypto derivatives.
In comparison to Wintermute, Jump, and Cumberland: all have expanded from pure crypto market making to traditional derivatives and RWA. The position after the exit of ICOs is similar to how exchanges shifted their main business to perpetual contracts after 2018. The industry is in a transitional phase from issuance-driven to clearing and collateral-driven.
Structural judgment indicates a transfer of pricing power. Those who can provide crypto-wrapped leverage to traditional accounts will earn fees; those still relying on initial allocation distributions will lose buyers. The mechanism is: ICOs granted pricing power to project parties and market makers, while derivatives grant pricing power to traders with margin and risk control systems. The market has changed; it is not just sentiment that has shifted, but the products subject to repeated taxation have transformed from tokens to contracts.
ABAB News · Cognitive Law
- The disappearance of ICOs is not surprising; fee entry points will naturally change.
- Activity follows products that can provide leverage.
- Market making comes first; tokens are merely an accessory to market making.