Theodore Gillibrand just raised $30 million for a derivatives exchange called American Perpetuals Exchange Corporation, or APEC. According to two sources familiar with the matter, Lux Capital led the fundraise and valued Theodore’s startup at $300 million.

This is not a casual crypto side project. APEC’s stated goal is to list perpetual futures, or “perps,” a kind of futures contract traders use to bet on asset prices without holding the assets themselves, and crucially, without a set expiration date. Theodore’s plan is to apply for a license from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to list perpetuals for equities and stock indices, not cryptocurrencies, according to a presentation filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The setup matters because perps are already mainstream in crypto trading, where they typically trade 24/7 on venues like Hyperliquid. Fortune’s source notes that Hyperliquid was initially specialized in perpetuals and has been among the most profitable protocols in crypto, which is part of why “perps” have become one of the buzziest derivative segments in broader finance over the past year. In other words: investors are not just funding a platform, they are backing a market pattern that has proven demand in the most frictionless trading environments.

APEC also arrives at a moment when perps are gaining a foothold with U.S. regulators. In May, Fortune’s source says Kalshi became the first U.S. company to add perpetual futures after it received approval from the CFTC to list contracts for Bitcoin. Mike Selig, chairman of the CFTC, posted on X in May that the CFTC took “historic action” to permit the listing of a “true bitcoin perpetual contract by a CFTC-registered exchange,” adding that it charted “a path” for one of the most liquid segments of the crypto asset markets to exist within the U.S. regulatory framework. When U.S. regulators move from “mostly tolerated” to “registered and enabled,” the business model changes for exchanges and for the firms they compete against.

APEC’s pitch is basically the mirror image of the last era. Theodore is positioning the exchange as regulated and institution-friendly, not offshore and loosely governed. Lux Capital’s spokesperson confirmed it led the round, and Theodore, in a statement, said: “It is clear that the future of these markets is not in offshore and unregulated foreign entities but rather in a regulated and institutional American company.” If you are a decision-maker on a trading platform or a board thinking about derivatives exposure, that statement lands on a real operational question: can you build the liquidity and product demand of perps, while meeting the compliance obligations that come with a CFTC-licensed exchange?

This is where Theodore’s background and his mother’s political alignment add extra context. Fortune’s source says Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand has been a key Democratic ally for the crypto industry and has pushed legislation connected to stablecoins, a type of cryptocurrency pegged to real-world assets like the U.S. dollar. The source notes that Gillibrand was part of a group of lawmakers that introduced the “Genius Act,” which regulates stablecoins, and that President Donald Trump signed the bill into law in July. The details here are not about influence claims. They are about timing and proximity: APEC’s product direction lines up with a broader legislative trend toward treating certain crypto-adjacent instruments as something that can be regulated in the open, rather than left to foreign or gray markets.

APEC’s focus on equities and stock indices also hints at a strategy that goes beyond crypto-native traders. The instrument described in the SEC-linked presentation is designed for the “perps” mechanics, but mapped onto traditional asset classes that are deeply entangled with existing institutional trading workflows. The second-order impact for peers could be significant: if a new venue successfully brings perpetual futures into regulated U.S. markets for equities and indices, it could reframe what liquidity providers, hedge funds, and systematic traders consider “normal” derivative exposure.

It is worth noting the personal logistics, too, because they tell you when this attempt is “now” rather than “someday.” Fortune’s source says Theodore graduated from Stanford University on Sunday. Previously, he was a fellow at Paradigm and an intern at Andreessen Horowitz, according to his LinkedIn profile. That combination, plus a $30 million war chest and a $300 million valuation, suggests the company is not building a prototype in a vacuum. It is trying to move quickly toward licensing and product launch, with the CFTC application as a near-term milestone.

For executives and investors watching derivatives, the competitive question is straightforward: perps already proved their popularity in crypto trading, including during periods when traders leaned on 24/7 venues while traditional exchanges were constrained. Now, with the CFTC approving at least one U.S. perpetual product through Kalshi, and with APEC explicitly targeting regulated perpetuals for equities and stock indices, the next phase of the market may not be where perps exist, but who gets to offer them legally, at scale. If APEC’s licensing effort works and its product resonates beyond crypto, it could shift expectations across trading firms, platforms, and boards deciding whether derivatives innovation belongs in the U.S. regulatory framework or stays trapped in offshore corners.