OTC/RFQ

OTC/RFQ is a future expansion of what Axis can offer, built on the protocol's existing execution infrastructure rather than on any lending activity, Axis does no institutional lending.

Axis runs a strong order-execution and order-management system (OMS) with direct venue access, broad market connectivity, and pre- and post-trade risk management. The same infrastructure that positions and hedges the protocol's own inventory can, over time, provide tight and competitive quotes to fintechs, neobanks, and other liquidity providers that need to convert one asset into another, any-to-any, across a growing set of asset standards and classes.

Offering this kind of execution would also help manage the protocol's reserves productively and sustainably, making returns less reliant on pure market inefficiency. This is a direction on the roadmap, not a live product today.

Over-the-counter and request-for-quote execution gives the engine a bilateral path for sourcing a price for a defined asset, size, and settlement arrangement.

How an RFQ works

An RFQ asks one or more counterparties to respond with an executable quote instead of exposing the full order to a public order book. A quote normally specifies the asset, side, size, price, validity window, and settlement terms.

Illustrative structure

A trader may request quotes to sell a block and receive a response at a premium to an executable market hedge. If the bilateral sale and the hedge can both be completed within the risk and cost budget, the paired execution may seek the remaining spread.

The quoted premium is not guaranteed profit. The hedge can move or fail before execution, the counterparty can withdraw or reject the quote, and legal, credit, custody, and settlement terms can change the result.

Why bilateral execution can help

OTC/RFQ execution can provide a firm price for a defined size, reduce public order-book impact, and match specific settlement needs. It can also concentrate counterparty exposure and reveal information about trading interest.

Residual risks

Key risks include counterparty default, quote expiry, information leakage, incomplete or delayed hedging, documentation disputes, custody failure, settlement mismatch, and limited ability to unwind a block.

Read Venue & Counterparty Risk for the counterparty framework and How Rewards Reach sUSDx for the boundary between a realized result and a vault reward.