Non-Deliverable Forward
What is a non-deliverable forward?
An NDF locks an exchange rate today for a date in the future, and settles the difference in cash. No local currency ever changes hands. At the fixing date the contract compares the rate you locked against the observed market rate and pays the gap, in USDC, on the notional.
It is the primary instrument for hedging emerging-market currency risk, where the local currency is hard to deliver or move. CRX trades NDFs and nothing else.
CRX trades the NDF only. Options and every other product are out of the model.
How does the payoff work?
One formula, linear, both ways:
(fixing − lockedRate) × notional
lockedRate— the rate both parties signed at binding.fixing— the rate observed at the fixing date, read once from the oracle.notional— the size of the hedge, in the base currency.
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 — the forward obliges both sides symmetrically.
Who are the two sides?
Every NDF is bilateral: one maker (the sell-side desk pricing the forward) and one taker (the firm hedging its exposure). They face each other directly. CRX is the software between them, never a counterparty to the trade.
Both sides post initial margin, the position marks while it is open, and at the fixing date it settles in one transaction. See Variation Margin (~4 min) for how the marking works.
When does it settle?
An NDF carries three dates, not one expiry:
| Date | Meaning |
|---|---|
fixingTime | when the settlement rate is observed |
settlementTime | when cash clears; always after fixing |
calendarId | the FX business-day calendar that resolves the rules |
Settlement is allowed only at or after settlementTime, and the oracle's price must have been published on or after the fixing date — a rate observed too early is rejected. See Calendar & Sessions (~3 min).
How is it represented on-chain?
The NDF lives as a position inside a Master Agreement — the netting set between the two parties. The position carries the locked rate, the notional, the side, and the three dates. The core contract holds the collateral and runs the payoff math; it never iterates a stored list.
The storage model is in CSA & Dual Collateral (~4 min).
Next: Variation Margin (~4 min) — how an open NDF stays solvent.