Nick Forster is an Australian-born, New York–based technology and finance executive best known as the co‑founder and chief executive officer of Derive Protocol (formerly Lyra), an on‑chain crypto derivatives venue focused on options, perpetual futures, and related markets. ^{[1] [2]}​

Education

Forster studied at the University of Sydney from 2014 to 2017, earning a bachelor's degree in Science and Arts with a focus on mathematics. He later attended the Advanced Software Engineering Immersive program at Hack Reactor between 2017 and 2018. ^[2]

Career

Forster’s early professional experience overlapped with his university studies. He worked as a tutor in mathematics, economics, statistics, and chemistry at Project Academy between 2014 and 2017, while also contributing to course materials and academic content development. During a similar period, he served as a mathematics and economics tutor at St Paul’s College at the University of Sydney.

In 2016 and 2017, Forster completed a financial risk management placement at KPMG in Sydney, where he worked across areas including market risk, treasury, and risk governance. After completing software engineering training at Hack Reactor in 2018, he joined Susquehanna International Group (SIG) as an equity options trader, focusing on derivatives market making and proprietary trading from 2018 to 2021.

In 2021, Forster co-founded Lyra, a decentralized options trading protocol, alongside Jake Fitzgerald, Michael Spain, and Dominic Romanowski. The project later rebranded as Derive Protocol and expanded its focus toward on-chain derivatives infrastructure, including options, perpetual futures, spot products, and vault systems. As chief executive officer of Derive Labs, Forster has been associated with the company’s strategic direction and the development of institutional-style derivatives trading infrastructure within decentralized finance. ^{[1] [2] [3] [4] [5]}

Public Commentary and Media

In late 2025, Forster appeared in a Derive‑produced interview that discussed his pathway from SIG trading to founding Derive Protocol, as well as the platform’s products and claimed metrics at that time. The segment also identified the co‑founding team of Nick Forster, Jake Fitzgerald, Mike Spain, and Dom Romanowski, and described the platform’s focus on institutional‑grade options, perpetuals, and structured products on‑chain. ^[4]​