Standardized contracts. Adaptive execution.
Every Parallax contract is quoted from 0 to 100 and cash-settled. A contract pays 100 if its specified outcome, bucket, or category is observed under the contract specification; otherwise it pays 0.
Every execution creates or offsets a fungible cleared position at a locked price, regardless of whether it originated in an auction, an RFQ trade, or a later secondary trade.
The family determines the hedge shape.
Contract specifications define the event, the observation source, the observation time, any fallback source hierarchy, the treatment of revisions, the final halt, and the exact settlement procedure. Families are structured so the risk engine can recognize offsets, exclusivity, and concentration across related outcomes.
Binary
Pays 100 if the named outcome occurs; otherwise 0. Elections, approvals, threshold policy decisions, discrete event triggers.
Range strip
Exactly one bucket in the strip pays 100; all other buckets pay 0. Macroeconomic releases, policy ranges, benchmark levels at observation.
Categorical ladder
One category pays 100 based on the specified outcome hierarchy; all others pay 0. Mutually exclusive policy, legal, regulatory, or sector outcomes.
Three execution protocols over one contract model.
Uniform-price auctions are the default price-discovery mechanism. RFQ and block workflows serve institutional size and bespoke negotiation. Continuous trading is enabled only for contract families that demonstrate sustained liquidity, acceptable concentration, stable spreads, and reliable control performance.
Secondary liquidity is market-quality gated. RFQ and block workflows support secondary risk transfer. Continuous trading is enabled only where depth, breadth, spread stability, and control performance support it.
| Market class | Default protocol | Secondary protocol | Continuous-trading posture |
|---|---|---|---|
| Benchmark calendar events | Frequent auctions | RFQ for size | Eligible after repeat depth, breadth, and spread stability are established. |
| Sector and regulatory events | Auctions | RFQ / block | Generally auction-plus-RFQ first; continuous trading only where broad two-sided flow emerges. |
| Custom and sponsor-backed programs | RFQ / club auction | Secondary only if standardized | Not assumed. Standardization and repeated demand are required before promotion to the public screen. |
Market lifecycle.
The lifecycle separates price discovery, execution, secondary liquidity, and resolution. Every Parallax contract moves through a controlled state machine; economics lock at the clearing event, not at final resolution. The auction cadence compresses as the event approaches; secondary trading and final halt follow; resolution and cash settlement close the lifecycle.
- Actors
- Listing
- Surveillance
- Risk & Clearing
- Resolution
- Entry
- Fully funded
- Secondary
- Portfolio margin
- Pre-event
- Ratchets toward max loss
Every execution creates a fungible cleared position at a locked price, regardless of whether it originated in an auction, an RFQ trade, or a later secondary trade.
Clearing, collateral, and default management.
Parallax operates one central clearing and risk layer across all approved event contracts. Accounts are segregated by legal entity and, where relevant, by clearing relationship.
Novation and portfolio netting
Trades novate into the clearing layer immediately after execution. The platform maintains net positions, collateral records, entitlements, and settlement obligations at the contract and portfolio level.
Conservative entry funding
Auction entry is fully funded. Approved secondary accounts may use portfolio margin under defined eligibility, concentration, and stress-risk controls.
Scenario-based margin
The risk engine applies scenario-based margin, concentration add-ons, liquidity add-ons, and wrong-way-risk overlays to margined accounts. Inside the final-halt window, requirements ratchet toward maximum loss.
Hard pre-trade controls
Pre-trade credit checks, position limits, collars, and self-match prevention operate before every execution. The platform never relies on commercial discretion to substitute for hard risk controls.
For the explicit default waterfall, portability and liquidation procedures, and independent control functions, see Governance.
Built on Canton.
Parallax runs on the Canton Network, a permissioned ledger used in institutional financial-market workflows. Canton and Daml form the canonical rights, privacy, and settlement layer: the system of record for what exists, who can see it, and how it settles.
Hot-path services such as auction optimization, RFQ negotiation, market-data dissemination, surveillance analytics, and client connectivity run off-ledger and commit back to canonical state, so the rulebook and the technical record remain aligned.