Solana

Oct 8, 2026

Solana DeFi Firms Orca and Loopscale Merge to Form New Company Formation

Solana-based decentralized exchange Orca and lending protocol Loopscale are combining under a new company, Formation, according to an announcement released Wednesday. The New York-based firm will be led by Loopscale co-founder Luke Truitt as CEO, with Mary Gooneratne as COO and Orca’s Christopher Montagano as chief strategy and legal officer. The companies did not disclose financial terms. Formation will combine Orca’s trading infrastructure with Loopscale’s credit order book and vaults, aiming to offer issuers trading and credit functionality from day one. Based on figures cited by the companies, Orca has processed more than $550 billion in trading volume since 2021, while Loopscale has recorded more than $150 million in deposits and facilitated over $2 billion in loans. The company said it is exploring opportunities tied to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s Sept. 17 innovation exemption for tokenized securities venues. Formation plans to use ORCA as the token across the combined business, while Loopscale points will continue accruing and convert later this year. Over the next 12 months, the firm expects to roll out issuer tools and new capital allocation strategies alongside its existing trading, lending, and vault products.

630

Loopscale

Oct 8, 2026

Loopscale says it will not launch a token after Formation tie-up, with ORCA as the only token

Loopscale has outlined key terms following its merger with Orca. After the combination, both products will continue operating under the Formation umbrella, according to an update cited by Odaily. The company said a redemption event for Loopscale points is scheduled for later this year, with more details set to be released soon. Until that redemption process begins, points will continue to accrue. Loopscale also said it does not plan to issue its own token. Instead, ORCA will serve as the only token in the Formation ecosystem. The update clarifies the token structure after the merger and sets expectations for users who have been accumulating Loopscale points ahead of the upcoming redemption arrangement.

890

Loopscale

Oct 8, 2026

Loopscale details Orca merger terms, says it will not issue a token

Loopscale has outlined new details of its merger with Solana-based decentralized exchange Orca in an official document. The lending protocol said both Loopscale and Orca will continue operating as products under Formation, the new entity created through the merger. It also said a conversion for Loopscale points will take place later this year, with more specifics to be released soon. Until the redemption event begins, users’ points will continue to accrue. The document also makes clear that Loopscale will not launch its own token, and that ORCA will remain the only token in the Formation ecosystem. BlockBeats had previously reported that Orca and Loopscale were combining under the Formation name, with Loopscale co-founder Luke Truitt taking the CEO role and Orca’s Christopher Montagano becoming chief strategy and legal officer.

800

Orca

Oct 8, 2026

Orca’s Loopscale merger pushes into AI and defense finance as ORCA rally puts buyback changes under scrutiny

Orca, a long-running decentralized exchange on Solana, is merging with lending protocol Loopscale and will operate under the new name Formation, according to a report published by The Block on Oct. 8 Beijing time. The combined business is pitching a broader model that links trading, lending and on-chain financing, with AI, robotics, energy and defense listed as target sectors. The announcement landed after ORCA had already surged sharply. CoinGecko daily close data cited in the source shows the token rising from $1.65 on Sept. 30 to $3.21 on Oct. 6, a gain of about 94.5%, before easing to roughly $3.07 at publication time. Over the prior 24 hours, it was down about 3.5%, while still up around 73.4% over seven days. The rally did not emerge in a vacuum. On Sept. 29, Orca’s governance forum posted a proposal saying the team had agreed terms to acquire a Solana DeFi protocol, adding lending and yield products. That proposal moved to an on-chain vote on Oct. 5. At the same time, investors are also weighing a separate issue: Orca is proposing to cut the share of protocol revenue used for automatic ORCA buybacks into xORCA from 40% to 10%, while redirecting more funds to operations, growth and acquisitions. The setup leaves token holders balancing two different bets — expansion into a larger business line, and a weaker fixed buyback stream than the one currently in place.

730

Solana

Oct 8, 2026

Solana DEX Orca and lending protocol Loopscale merge into Formation

Solana-based decentralized exchange Orca and lending protocol Loopscale have announced a merger, creating a new entity called Formation. The deal brings together two projects that have built different pieces of Solana’s on-chain market structure. Orca said it has served as a major liquidity layer in the Solana ecosystem since 2021, with cumulative trading volume topping $500 billion. Loopscale, for its part, has facilitated more than $2 billion in loans since April 2025. Under the new structure, Formation plans to combine asset issuance, secondary markets, and credit functions on a single platform. The company also said it will offer permissioned services for institutions while keeping permissionless access available to the public. The announcement outlines a model that aims to serve both institutional users and open market participants within one product framework.

1040

Orca

Oct 8, 2026

Orca and Loopscale complete merger, combined team to operate as Formation

Solana liquidity protocol Orca and on-chain lending protocol Loopscale have completed a merger, according to a post on X by Formation co-founder Mary Gooneratne. The deal combines Orca’s trading and liquidity infrastructure with Loopscale’s credit and custody infrastructure. The merged team will operate under the name Formation, with Loopscale co-founder Luke Truitt serving as chief executive officer. Gooneratne said Formation is designed to give emerging assets a full path from issuance to financing and liquidity, while also expanding the range of assets and strategy choices available to capital allocators. The announcement identifies the new operating structure and leadership but does not disclose additional transaction terms in the post.

780

Orca

Oct 8, 2026

ORCA nearly doubled before the Orca-Loopscale merger. The market may have already priced in the new story.

ORCA rallied sharply before Orca’s merger with lending protocol Loopscale was formally reported, raising the question of whether the token’s latest narrative shift had already been priced in. According to The Block, the combined team will operate under the name Formation and plans to bring trading and lending together while targeting financing demand tied to AI, robotics, energy, and defense. That headline gave the market a fresh angle on a long-running Solana protocol, but the token had already moved from $1.65 on Sept. 30 to $3.21 on Oct. 6, based on CoinGecko daily closes. The move also overlaps with a governance proposal that was already public before the merger announcement. Orca said on Sept. 29 that it had agreed terms to acquire a Solana DeFi protocol, and the proposal moved to onchain voting on Oct. 5. At the same time, the proposal would materially change how protocol revenue is allocated. Orca currently routes 40% of protocol revenue to automatic buybacks for xORCA, but the new plan would cut that share to 10%, assign another 10% to team-directed market buybacks, and leave 80% for operations and growth. That creates a split between two ways of owning the token. Buyers chasing the merger and expansion story are betting on future business growth. Existing stakers, by contrast, face a possible reduction in the fixed buyback flow that had supported the old investment case.

720

Solana

Oct 8, 2026

Orca and Loopscale Merge to Form Formation, Targeting AI and Defense Financing

Solana-based decentralized exchange Orca and lending platform Loopscale have agreed to merge and launch a new company, Formation, with Loopscale co-founder Luke Truitt taking the CEO role. The combined entity plans to link Orca’s trading infrastructure with Loopscale’s lending vaults to build a full pipeline for asset issuance, financing, and trading. Formation said it wants to move beyond crypto-native markets and bring DeFi liquidity into capital-intensive sectors such as AI, energy, robotics, and defense. The company said Orca’s existing protocol, which has processed more than $550 billion in trading volume since 2021, and Loopscale’s lending business, which reported more than $150 million in deposits and over $2 billion in loans, will remain foundational to the ORCA and xORCA token networks. Financial terms of the merger were not disclosed. Formation also named five partners: Figure, Shinhan Asset Management, Superstate, R3, and Securitize. The move adds to a broader shift inside the Solana ecosystem, where some projects are pushing past trading-focused use cases and into infrastructure and institutional services. Formation said it plans to release issuer-facing tools and new investment strategies over the next year, while building a route into regulated U.S. capital markets.

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