Products
What does CRX trade?
One instrument: the non-deliverable forward (NDF). Nothing else. CRX is a single-product venue by design — no options, no swaps, no spot. The whole contract, the whole margin model, the whole settlement path is built around the NDF and only the NDF.
An NDF locks an exchange rate for a future date. At that date neither party delivers the foreign currency. Instead the contract pays the cash difference between the locked rate and the observed market rate, on the agreed notional. The local currency never moves; only the gap settles.
NDF only. Earlier drafts of CRX described a second instrument (the NDO). It was removed. There is no option product.
What is an NDF, exactly?
A cash-settled forward on a currency pair you cannot — or do not want to — deliver physically.
| Field | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Pair | the two currencies, e.g. USD/BRL |
| Locked rate | the rate both parties fix today |
| Notional | the size the payout is scaled to |
| Fixing date | when the settlement rate is observed |
| Settlement date | when the cash difference clears |
The payoff is linear and symmetric: (fixing rate − locked rate) × notional. If your locked rate beat the market, you are paid the gap. If it didn't, you pay it. There is no premium and no optionality — both sides carry the full move, both ways.
For the mechanics in depth, see NDF (~3 min).
Why a forward, and not an option?
Because a forward is the cleanest hedge for a known future flow. A company that will receive or owe a fixed foreign amount on a known date does not need optional upside — it needs the rate fixed. An option charges a premium for flexibility that a treasury hedging a committed flow rarely uses.
A single product also keeps the contract small, the margin model exact, and the audit surface narrow. One payoff function. One settlement path. One thing to get right.
Trade-off: if you want to keep upside while capping downside, an NDF will not give it to you. The forward fixes the rate in both directions.
Who trades it?
Two sides, paired one-to-one inside each agreement:
- Takers — companies hedging real emerging-market FX exposure. Stablecoin treasuries, remittance and payroll operators, importers and exporters with foreign receivables or payables.
- Makers — institutional and crypto-native FX desks that price emerging-market forwards and quote the other side.
A taker asks for a price; a maker answers; the two firms bind the trade directly to each other. CRX is the software they meet in, never a party to the trade.
Who fits which side, and the pain each is escaping, is on Use Cases (~4 min).
How does it sit in a treasury's stack?
It replaces the bank-intermediated NDF, not the bank account. A treasury keeps its operating cash where it is and uses CRX to fix the rate on a specific future flow — competitively priced, sized to the flow, settled on-chain in one transaction.
The margin under an open NDF clears continuously, so there is no margin call to answer. See Margin (VM) (~3 min) for why.
Next: Use Cases (~4 min) — who uses CRX, and the exact pain it removes.