What is CRX
Overview
CRX is comprised of three components that let takers and makers trade NDFs directly with one another: standardized onboarding, an RFQ engine, and a smart contract.
- Onboard once.
- Takers request quotes. Makers respond with firm rates.
- Taker signs. The position binds. Each side posts initial margin.
- While open, margin is handled via smart contract.
- At the fixing date, benchmark price settles the trade in cash.
Pick your side — Taker · Maker · Whitelabel.
Standardized Onboarding
A single onboarding qualifies a participant to trade across the CRX network, eliminating per-counterparty diligence and documentation. On clearance, the participant's wallet is added to an on-chain allowlist that the smart contract checks before any trade.
Eligibility. Checks include Eligible Contract Participant (ECP) verification, Know Your Customer (KYC), and OFAC sanctions screening.
Adherence. Participants adhere once to CRX's standard-form set: an ISDA Master Agreement, Credit Support Annex (CSA), and Account Control Agreement (ACA). CRX administers these documents but is not a counterparty to any trade. The terms apply bilaterally between the two trading participants and set the collateral, settlement, and default mechanics the smart contract enforces.
More on this: Who can trade · Custody & security.
RFQ Engine
A Taker submits a request for quote specifying currency pair, tenor, notional, and direction. The Maker responds with a firm, signed quote, valid for a short window. The Taker signs the offer to execute, forming the trade directly with that Maker, or lets the quote expire and approaches another. RFQ pricing keeps each quote firm, executable, and sized to the request rather than to fixed contract terms.
Both sides of the quote: Get a price and lock it · What a maker does. Which pairs and tenors quote: Supported pairs.
CRX Protocol
The CRX protocol is the on-chain smart contract that performs the functions banks traditionally handle. The protocol is publicly auditable, deterministic, and operated by a 3-of-5 multisig. CRX never takes custody of participant funds; collateral is held by the contract itself.
The protocol manages each trade from execution to settlement:
- Collateral — on execution, the contract pulls initial margin from both participants.
- Oracle — a Pyth Network feed provides the on-chain reference rate for each pair, used for both margin and settlement.
- Margin — the contract marks positions to market continuously and issues a margin call when a position breaches its maintenance level.
- Netting — offsetting exposures between two counterparties net bilaterally.
- Default — an unmet margin call is an event of default: the contract closes out the defaulting positions and pays the non-defaulting counterparty from the posted collateral.
- Settlement — at expiry, the contract computes the payout from the Pyth EMA and settles on-chain in one atomic transaction, returning remaining collateral.
How margin, default, and payout land on each side: Your margin, defaults, and payout for takers · Margin & default protection for makers. Where the contracts live: Live deployments. Any term unclear: Glossary.