OptionBlox is an application I've been working on with some peers for a while now. We're striving to use it to enable open-access derivative markets. Users will be able to write, trade, and execute any derivative contract with any asset anchored on Stellar's ledger.
Key features:
Greater efficiency than other derivative processing systems.
Completely ledger-based contracts.
Tokenized contracts that can be traded anywhere.
Flexibility to support any contract or use-case.
Decentralized application.
Website: http://optionblox.com/
Whitepaper: https://github.com/markuspluna/OBXwhitepaper/blob/master/Whitepaper.md
Background:
I presented OptionBlox at Meridian last November. Back then we only had our covered options protocol finalized. Since then we've finalized protocols for uncovered options, futures, and swaps. We're now in the development process.
Open-Access Derivative Markets:
Financial derivatives are invaluable aspects of the modern financial ecosystem. They serve as effective hedging tools and drive market efficiency. It has even been shown that efficient derivative markets stimulate economic growth. Unfortunately, the complicated nature of these contracts means they require a myriad of middlemen to facilitate them. Reliance on these middlemen creates inefficiency and limits efficient derivative market access. Unsophisticated economic entities have to pay much larger fees for access to derivative markets, if they can gain access at all. In other words, it is difficult for many potential market participants in developing nations to take advantage of derivatives.
We use Stellar-based smart contracts to eliminate the need for middlemen to facilitate derivative contracts. By doing so, we hope to allow anyone with internet access to participate in derivative markets.
Building on Stellar:
Building OptionBlox on Stellar is what sets it apart from the other decentralized-ledger-derivative-solutions in the ecosystem. Most of which are built on Ethereum. Stellar is the only established decentralized ledger that is complex enough to build ledger-based derivative contracts, multi-asset capable, and efficient enough to support a scalable derivative market.
It's a pleasure to be part of this community. Hopefully, our project will contribute to Stellar's mission of creating equitable access to the global financial system. We're hoping to launch some sort of alpha by the end of the year, so look forward to that. Please reach out if you have any questions or input!
