OPNX launches ‘oUSD’ credit currency for crypto margin trading

cointelegraph.com:

Crypto futures exchange OPNX has launched a credit currency for margin trading, according to a July 5 statement made to Cointelegraph from the exchange’s co-founder, Mark Lamb. Called “oUSD,” the currency is available in its “phase 1” iteration, meaning that users cannot receive it without depositing crypto assets into the exchange. 

In a future “phase 2” version, the platform intends to make oUSD available to users who deposit crypto into on-chain contracts to allow for possible “bankruptcy remoteness,” Lamb stated.

In the currency’s litepaper, oUSD is identified as a solution to three problems. First, lenders do not want to trust platforms to hold cash loans backed by crypto collateral. Second, exchanges and lending platforms don’t want to lend cash to margin traders, as this practice led to multiple bankruptcies during the 2022 bear market. Third, crypto derivatives traders want “portfolio margin,” or the ability to borrow and trade based on their crypto holdings rather than their stablecoin holdings.

To solve this problem, oUSD exists as a “credit currency.” It can be purchased at a 1-to-1 ratio with Tether (USDT) or used to measure profit and loss when users rely on Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH) or other cryptocurrencies as collateral. Users with a negative oUSD balance must pay an interest rate determined by holders of the platform’s native token, OX. Users who have a positive balance cash out by redeeming it for USDT.

In a conversation with Cointelegraph, Lamb claimed that users would eventually be able to acquire oUSD by staking cryptocurrency within smart contracts outside the platform. This will allow them to have bankruptcy remoteness, protecting them from any possible insolvency at the exchange.

“The problem with