Synthetix contributors have released a proposal to acquire options protocol Derive through a token swap deal involving 29.3 million SNX with a lock-up and vesting period, valued at approximately $27 million.

On May 14, the DeFi protocol declared its intention to acquire one of its former ecosystem projects, decentralized options platform Derive. At the moment, the proposal is still awaiting review from the Synthetix’s governing DAO, the Spartan Council, and Derive governance before it can be executed.

“This acquisition accelerates Synthetix’s push towards a leading Ethereum mainnet perps engine, by integrating Derive’s capabilities and team into the core protocol,” wrote the protocol in its recent blogpost.

Outlined within the new SIP-415, the acquisition would take the form of a structured token swap at a ratio of 27:1. This means that for every 27 DRV tokens, holders would receive 1 SNX (SNX) under a three-month lock and a nine-month linear vesting period upon token distribution.

As part of the deal, Synthetix will issue 29.3 million new SNX tokens, valued at $27 million.

SNX has been experiencing a week-long rally, surging more than 45%, according to data from crypto.news. At press time, the token has gone up $0.84, reaching its highest peak at $0.96. It is inching closer to the $1 mark, especially after soaring by nearly 50% in the past month.

So far, the token’s market cap stands at $316 million. In the past 24 hours, SNX daily trading volume has jumped only slightly, increasing by 1% compared to the previous day.

The acquisition of Derive could potentially lead to the protocol launching its own dedicated derivatives exchange on the ecosystem. This is because the protocol would be acquiring not only members of the Derive team, but also its technology, which facilitates CLOB perpetuals with on-chain settlement acceleration.

According to the blogpost, the integration of Derive’s options trading infrastructure into Synthetix is poised to rival other major derivatives-offering platforms such as Hyperliquid, Binance, Deribit, and dYdX.

Founder of Synthetix, Kain Warwick, said the proposed acquisition of Derive is part of the protocol’s effort to reunite scattered projects under the Synthetix ecosystem. He explained that Derive was “born from the same DNA,” as it had originally emerged from Synthetix under the name Lyra.

The protocol had previously acquired other projects that were once under Synthetix, including perpetual futures platform Kwenta and token leveraging project TLX.

“Reuniting under one banner simplifies our architecture and governance and unlocks the next phase. This is the kids going out to build their own successful start-ups, and coming back to join the family business,” said Warwick.