Crypto Gloss

Dopex Protocol

Dopex (now rebranded as Stryke Finance) pursued on-chain options with a DeFi-native philosophy from the start — where Opyn focused on recreating TradFi options mechanics on Ethereum and Ribbon Finance built auction-based DOVs for passive yield, Dopex built infrastructure designed for DeFi composability: options collateral that can be used while it’s locking (Atlantic Options), options vaults integrated directly with DeFi protocols, and eventually a Concentrated Liquidity AMM (CLAMM) that maps options payoffs onto Uniswap V3 liquidity positions — a genuinely novel approach that uses DeFi’s existing infrastructure (Uniswap V3) as the options market’s core liquidity layer rather than building a separate order book or AMM from scratch. The protocol launched with strong community momentum, two token economics (DPX governance + rDPX rebate/reserve currency), deep Arbitrum integration, and aggressive product iteration — resulting in a suite of options products each targeting different use cases across the DeFi options spectrum.

Key Facts

  • Now known as: Stryke Finance (rebranded 2024)
  • Chain: Arbitrum (primary), Ethereum
  • Original governance token: DPX
  • Original rebate token: rDPX (later used in Dopex’s DPXUSD stablecoin experiments)
  • Core products (historical): SSOVs → Atlantic Options → CLAMM (Stryke)
  • Backers: Three Arrows Capital (subsequently bankrupt), Anthos Capital, Tetranode

Core Product Evolution

The main product offerings are described below.

Generation 1: SSOVs (Single Staking Option Vaults)

Launched: 2021

Dopex’s first product aligned with the DOV era but with a distinctive difference: users could deposit a single asset (ETH, DPX, GOHM, GMX, etc.) and earn options premium from that specific asset — compared to most DOVs that only offered covered calls on ETH or BTC.

How SSOVs worked:

  1. User deposits ETH into ETH SSOV
  2. Vault accepts deposits at the start of each epoch (monthly)
  3. During the epoch, buyers purchase call options from the vault using premium denominated in the deposit asset
  4. Collected premium is distributed to depositors at epoch end
  5. At expiry, if options are exercised against the vault, depositors may receive less than their initial deposit (sold call risk)

Multi-asset innovation: SSOVs for DPX, rDPX, GOHM, GMX, CRV let options buyers speculate on mid-cap DeFi tokens — not just ETH/BTC. This was genuinely novel: Deribit doesn’t list options on small DeFi tokens; Dopex did.

Limitation: Monthly epoch cycle was sticky (depositors couldn’t exit during the epoch); options buyers needed to be sophisticated enough to value mid-cap DeFi token options (thin secondary markets for price reference).

Generation 2: Atlantic Options

Launched: 2022 — a novel options structure Dopex invented

Atlantic Options solved a specific DeFi problem: traditional options lock collateral entirely (to cash-secure a put, USDC is held idle until expiry). In DeFi, idle collateral earns nothing — a capital inefficiency.

Atlantic Put Mechanics:

  1. Options seller deposits USDC as collateral to back put options
  2. Buyer purchases put option, paying premium
  3. During the option’s life, if the put goes in-the-money:
    Instead of waiting for expiry, the USDC collateral is immediately released to the buyer
    The buyer can use the USDC collateral for other DeFi operations (e.g., as collateral in a lending protocol)
  4. At expiry/settlement: USDC is returned to options seller

Why “Atlantic”: The options contract allows collateral to flow (like the Atlantic Ocean flows) rather than being locked statically.

Use case designed for: GMX liquidation protection. A GMX leveraged position holder buys an Atlantic put on ETH — if ETH drops toward their liquidation price, the Atlantic put automatically provides the USDC collateral to top up their GMX margin, preventing liquidation, while the put option simultaneously captures the ETH downside hedge.

Complexity: Atlantic Options are complex — the automatic collateral release mechanism, margin top-up integration with GMX, and settlement mechanics required significant user education. Adoption was limited relative to the novel design.

Generation 3: CLAMM (Stryke Finance)

Launched/Rebranded: 2023-2024 (rebranded from Dopex to Stryke Finance)

The CLAMM model is the most architecturally distinctive Dopex product — it uses Uniswap V3 concentrated liquidity positions directly as the underlying structure for options pricing and liquidity.

Core insight: A Uniswap V3 liquidity provider position in a price range [Ka, Kb] has a payoff structure similar to a combination of options:

  • LP active in range: earns fees (like selling a covered combination)
  • LP outside range: holds one asset entirely (ETH if below range, USDC if above range)
  • The transition at Ka and Kb has option-like payoff profiles

Stryke’s CLAMM uses this observation to create genuine options using Uniswap V3 LP positions as the funding mechanism:

  • Options sellers deploy capital into Uniswap V3 pools via Stryke
  • Options buyers exercise options by targeting specific tick ranges
  • The Uniswap V3 LP fee income acts as yield for options sellers
  • Settlement occurs through the LP position mechanics natively

Result: Options completely integrated with DeFi’s existing AMM infrastructure — no separate options AMM, no order book, no auction needed. Uses Uniswap V3’s existing deep liquidity as the backend.

DPX and rDPX Token Economics

Token design and economics are covered in detail below.

DPX (Governance Token)

  • Capped supply: 500,000 DPX maximum (very low supply)
  • Utility: Governance over Dopex/Stryke protocol parameters; staking for fee distribution
  • Revenue share: DPX stakers receive a portion of options protocol fees (premium collected minus operational costs)
  • Deflationary mechanisms: Protocol buybacks using revenue

rDPX (Rebate Token)

rDPX was originally conceived as a rebate token for options buyers (when options expired worthless, buyers received rDPX as partial rebate). Later, Dopex pivoted rDPX to serve as reserve currency / collateral for a stablecoin product (DPXUSD — an ETH-backed stablecoin backed by rDPX and ETH).

The rDPX → DPXUSD stablecoin attempt added complexity without clear market fit and was later sunset in favor of focusing on CLAMM/Stryke.

Three Arrows Capital Exposure

Dopex’s backers included Three Arrows Capital (3AC), which collapsed in June 2022 after LUNA/UST liquidations exhausted their capital. This affected Dopex’s early backer composition but did not directly impact protocol smart contracts — Dopex continued operating after 3AC’s bankruptcy.

Market Position

Arbitrum options ecosystem: Dopex (Stryke) is one of the core Arbitrum options protocols alongside Premia Finance, Lyra Finance (migrated from Optimism), and Jones DAO (as a strategy layer above options infrastructure). Stryke’s CLAMM approach is technically the most distinctive.

Volume: Dopex/Stryke volumes trailed Premia and Deribit significantly in terms of daily notional — the most complex products (Atlantic Options, CLAMM) have steeper learning curves limiting volume vs. simpler options products.

Post-rebranding momentum: The Stryke Finance rebrand aimed to signal a clean break from the Dopex brand’s association with complex/underperforming products and refocus market attention on the CLAMM innovation.

Related Terms

Sources

  1. “Single Staking Option Vaults (SSOVs): Multi-Asset Options Market Innovation vs. Standard ETH/BTC DOV Products” — Delphi Digital (2022).
  1. “Atlantic Options: The Collateral-Releasing Put Option and Its DeFi Use Cases” — Dopex Research Blog (2022).
  1. “Stryke Finance CLAMM: Using Uniswap V3 LP Positions as Options Infrastructure” — Messari Research (2024).: When: price: P: is: between: Ka: and: Kb:: provider: holds: both: assets: earns: fees: (positive: P&L: like: short: straddle: within: range) When: price: P: drops: below: Ka:: provider: holds: 100%: of: the: higher-volatility: asset: (downside: exposure: like: being: put: the: base: asset) When: price: P: rises: above: Kb:: provider: holds: 100%: of: stablecoin: (gave: up: upside: like: having: a: covered: call: exercised): STRYKE: IMPLEMENTATION: Options: sellers: deposit: liquidity: into: specific: Clamm: ticks: Buyers: specify: option: parameters: (effectively: targeting: specific: liquidity: tick: ranges): Exercise: mechanics: use: the: Uniswap: V3: LP: state: transitions: at: tick: boundaries: Fee: income: from: the: underlying: Uniswap: V3: pool: provides: continuous: yield: to: options: sellers: (like: theta/time: value): ADVANTAGES: Deep: existing: Uniswap: V3: liquidity: can: backstop: Stryke: options: No: need: for: separate: options: AMM: liquidity: bootstrapping: Concentrated: liquidity: positions: can: be: tightly: focused: around: specific: strike: equivalents: ADOPTION: STATUS: As: of: early: 2024: CLAMM: architecture: is: novel: and: growing: but: still: building: adoption: — requires: sophisticated: users: who: understand: both: Uniswap: V3: LP: mechanics: AND: options: payoff: profiles:]
  1. “DPX Tokenomics: 500K Supply Cap, Deflationary Mechanics, and Options Protocol Revenue Sharing” — Token Terminal (2022).
  1. “rDPX Rebate Token Pivot: From Options Rebate to Stablecoin Collateral and Why It Complicated Dopex’s Narrative” — Blockworks Research (2023).