iTechGuides is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Learn more
Solana-based decentralized exchange Orca and lending platform Loopscale announced a merger on October 7, 2026, under the name Formation. The combined team says it plans to connect Orca’s trading and liquidity infrastructure with Loopscale’s lending and investment vaults, with longer-term ambitions that include financing businesses in AI, energy, robotics, and defense. Those plans do not mean the new issuer tools or regulated-market access are already available; financial terms were not disclosed.
What the Orca–Loopscale merger creates
Formation is the name the companies gave the combined organization. Loopscale co-founder Luke Truitt was named CEO. The idea is to bring together two different parts of decentralized finance: Orca’s trading and liquidity infrastructure and Loopscale’s lending and investment vaults. The Block reported that Orca had recorded more than $550 billion in trading volume since 2021, while Loopscale reported more than $150 million in deposits and over $2 billion in loans facilitated. These are company metrics reported by The Block, not independently audited figures, and they describe different kinds of activity. The Block’s merger report
| Legacy platform | Capability described in the announcement | Reported activity |
|---|---|---|
| Orca | Trading and liquidity infrastructure | More than $550 billion in trading volume since 2021, as reported by The Block |
| Loopscale | Lending and investment vaults | More than $150 million in deposits and over $2 billion in loans facilitated, as reported by The Block |
Why Formation is targeting capital-intensive sectors
The team’s stated thesis is that businesses in areas such as AI, energy, robotics, and defense need substantial capital, while traditional financing infrastructure may not adapt quickly enough to their needs. Formation says it wants to reduce financing costs and eventually provide access to regulated U.S. capital markets. These are strategic ambitions, not evidence that Formation has launched financing programs for those industries or secured regulatory approval.
The Block quoted Truitt, now identified as Formation’s CEO, saying: “The frontier economy is creating new business models and financing needs more rapidly than traditional market infrastructure is evolving to serve them.” Orca’s Christopher Montagano, identified as Formation’s chief strategy and legal officer, said: “Liquidity alone isn’t enough to scale an asset.” The remarks explain the executives’ rationale; they are not independent assessments of market conditions.
#1 Best Overall
- AI-Powered Raspberry Pi Robot Dog — PiDog: Powered by Raspberry Pi (5/4B/3B+/3B/Zero 2W), OpenClaw, and multi-LLMs like ChatGPT, Gemini, Grok, DeepSeek, Qwen & Ollama. With 12 servos, camera, gyroscope, hearing & touch sensors, PiDog can see, listen, talk, move, and interact intelligently. Supports OpenCV, MediaPipe, TTS & STT, app control, FPV & Python. A great STEM robotics gift for students, makers & tech enthusiasts—perfect for birthdays and holidays. (Raspberry Pi not included)
- Realistic Dog-like Movements: PiDog's 12 powerful servos enable 32 dog-like actions, including walking, sitting, standing, shaking its head, wagging its tail, and performing playful tricks, closely mimicking a real dog and providing an engaging experience. This is an AI development robot product designed for engineers, suitable for ages 15 and above
- Rich Sensor Suite for Interactive Experiences: PiDog features ultrasonic, touch, gyroscope, sound, camera, speaker and microphone. These provide it with advanced hearing, vision, and touch, enabling it to see, detect obstacles, respond to touch, and recognize sounds, making interactions highly engaging
- AI-Powered Interactions with OpenClaw & Multi-LLMs. PiDog combines voice, vision, and gesture recognition for immersive AI experiences. Powered by OpenClaw and multi-LLMs like ChatGPT, Gemini, Grok, DeepSeek, Qwen, Doubao, and Ollama (local LLMs), it can understand questions, respond naturally through TTS & STT, recognize math problems, interpret hand gestures, and hold smart conversations. OpenClaw also enables customizable AI behaviors and personalized robotics development, helping users create their own intelligent robotic companion
- Comprehensive Learning Resources and Support: PiDog offers detailed online documentation, video tutorials, prompt technical support, and an active forum community, ensuring beginners can easily complete all projects and enjoy a great experience
How the planned product path is supposed to work
The merger’s product logic is to connect asset issuance, financing, and trading rather than provide only a venue for trading or a source of lending. In principle, an issuer could create an asset, seek financing through lending or investment structures, and then access trading and liquidity infrastructure. The announcement describes that direction, but does not establish that a complete end-to-end service is live.
- Issuance: Formation’s plans include issuer-oriented tools, but the announcement does not confirm a launched product.
- Financing: Loopscale’s lending and vault capabilities are the intended financing component of the combination.
- Trading: Orca contributes trading and liquidity infrastructure.
- Market access: Access to regulated U.S. capital markets is a longer-term stated aim, not a confirmed current capability.
The Block also reported that Orca and Loopscale raised $18 million and $4.25 million, respectively, in 2021. Those historical fundraising figures are not the consideration paid in this merger.
Rank #2
- Optimized AI Arm Kit for LeRobot & Hugging Face Projects – The SO-ARM101 is an upgraded low-cost robotic arm servo motor kit designed for AI robotics enthusiasts and developers. Fully compatible with LeRobot and Hugging Face frameworks, it supports imitation learning and reinforcement learning, making it ideal for real-world robotics applications. (3D-printed parts not included.)
- Enhanced Wiring & Performance – Compared to the SO-ARM100, the SO-ARM101 features improved wiring to prevent disconnection at joint 3 and eliminates range-of-motion limitations. The leader arm uses optimized gear ratio motors for smoother performance—no external gearboxes required.
- Real-Time Leader-Follower Functionality – New real-time tracking allows the leader arm to follow the follower arm, enabling human intervention and correction during reinforcement learning (RL) training. Perfect for hands-on AI robotics development and research.
- Open-Source, DIY-Friendly & Nvidia-Compatible – Developed by TheRobotStudio, this open-source AI Arm kit integrates seamlessly with the LeRobot platform, offering PyTorch-based datasets, simulation, training, and deployment tools. Fully compatible with Nvidia Jetson edge devices, including reComputer Mini J4012 Orin NX 16 GB.
- Comprehensive Learning Resources – Includes detailed open-source assembly and calibration guides, testing tutorials, and deployment instructions. From wiring to AI training, get everything you need to start building, teaching, and optimizing your robotic arm for grasping and placing tasks.
What is known about the deal—and what is not
The merger was announced October 7, 2026, and financial terms were not disclosed in the reporting. The Block said the existing protocols remain part of the ORCA and xORCA token network. It did not provide a detailed account of future token economics, so the announcement alone does not establish changes to token rights, supply, or value. The Block’s merger report
Orca’s governance forum separately discussed a proposal concerning treasury resources, fee allocation, and governance changes. The proposal described a 10/10/80 protocol-fee allocation, moving ORCA treasury tokens to a team-controlled account for acquisitions, transferring SOL treasury management, and governance changes. It said the Council had preliminarily approved a transaction while making formal approval dependent on the proposal’s success. These are governance-proposal details, not disclosed merger consideration. Orca governance forum
Rank #3
- Raspberry Pi AI Robot: powered by Raspberry Pi (5/4B/3B+/3B/Zero 2W), features 12 servos and sensors for vision, hearing, and touch. Integrated with ChatGPT-4o, it responds to complex queries. With app control and FPV, users can manage and see its view in real-time. It supports Python programming
- Realistic Movements: 12 powerful servos enable 32 actions, including walking, sitting, standing, shaking its head, wagging its tail, and performing playful tricks, closely mimicking a real and providing an engaging experience
- Rich Sensor Suite for Interactive Experiences: features ultrasonic, touch, gyroscope, sound, camera, speaker and microphone. These provide it with advanced hearing, vision, and touch, enabling it to see, detect obstacles, respond to touch, and recognize sounds, making interactions highly engaging
- Engaging Interactions with ChatGPT-4o: with ChatGPT-4o enables voice interactions and visual recognition, making it smarter and more responsive. Users can have natural conversations, solve math problems via the camera, and interpret gestures, creating diverse and fun interactions
- Comprehensive Learning Resources and Support: offers detailed online documentation, video tutorials, prompt technical support, and an active forum community, ensuring beginners can easily complete all projects and enjoy a great experience
An October 8 forum update said the earlier vote would be cancelled and reposted so tokenholders could participate. Voting was scheduled for October 11 at about 10 a.m. ET through October 16 at about 10 a.m. ET, followed by a two-day cooldown through October 18. Passage required at least 3,000,000 ORCA yes votes and more yes than no votes. As of October 9, 2026, the scheduled vote had not occurred, so no result should be inferred. The update also said specific merger terms remained confidential under the definitive agreement. Orca governance forum update
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What to watch next
The announcement is a strategic combination, while its broader financing vision depends on execution. Useful milestones are whether Formation ships issuer tools, how lending and vault strategies are structured, which partners take defined roles, and whether any regulated U.S. market access becomes concrete. The announcement does not establish completed product launches, individual partner commitments, or the outcome of Orca’s scheduled governance vote.
Quick Recap
Rank #4
- 【End-to-End Imitation Learning】Hiwonder SO-ARM101 robot arm is an embodied intelligent hardware platform compatible with the Lerobot open-source framework. It provides developers with streamlined access to shared code, templates, and pre-trained models to explore the latest advancements in AI research.
- 【Dual-Camera Vision System】Equipped with both a gripper-mounted camera and an external camera, the system supports both precise manipulation and environmental awareness for accurate imitation learning.
- 【Hiwonder High-Performance Bus Servos】Featuring 12 high-torque bus servo motors with magnetic feedback, the Hiwonder SO-Arm101 robotic arm delivers smooth, stable motion, eliminating issues like power deficiency and jitter.
- 【Professional Control & Debugging】Integrated with the Hiwonder BusLinker V3.0 debugging board, the system supports servo scanning, real-time status monitoring, and trajectory control. The professional PC software simplifies device calibration and debugging, making it accessible for both researchers and hobbyists.
- 【Open-Source Compatibility】The SO-ARM101 robotic arm is designed to be fully compatible with the LeRobot open-source project. We acknowledge the contributions of the open-source community; all trademarks and copyrights belong to their respective owners.
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
Do these 3 things before closing this tab:
1Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches2Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems3Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute
