1st Decentralized Derivative Trading Contest: USD:ETH/M9 (managed) on Ropsten

The contest ends Friday, June 14 at 16:30 UTC and remains open to new participants until the end.

Rankings

Current and final rankings are published on the Github issue page. Please watch the issue to receive updates.

Quick Start Guide

  1. Sign up for the contest on Gitcoin

  2. Start local Ropsten node with unlocked account or log into MetaMask and open a Ropsten wallet

  3. Obtain test ether from https://faucet.ropsten.be if required

  4. Go to https://prod.proderivatives.com click on "ETH" and wait until "Ropsten" appears in the title

  5. Open "Accounts" and deploy a new account contract

  6. Fund your account contract with test ether but leave some in your wallet to pay network transaction fees

  7. Add new derivative and select "USD:ETH/M9"

  8. Click the derivative contract and in the Operations menu, select "Pay Fee"

  9. Wait until the fee has been paid and your account has been verified (checkmark appears in "Verified" column) - this may take a few minutes

  10. Go to "Trading", select "USD:ETH/M9" and submit your first order

One trade could be enough to secure the bounty of 1.5 ETH. The second and third-best accounts will be awarded 1 ETH and 0.5 ETH, respectively. It is okay to use multiple account contracts for trading, so if the top 3 accounts are controlled by a single trader such as yourself, you will receive 3 ETH. Don’t miss out!

For more information, please visit https://proderivatives.com/prod or ask a question on the support chat channel (click “Support” button in the trading app).


Introduction

For this contest you will assume the role of a derivatives trader. Your task is to execute profitable trades with other users to build up a position that is "in-the-money" when the contract expires. The trader with the highest in-the-money position at contract expiration wins.


Basics

The derivative used in this contest is a Forward contract (aka Futures contract). The value of a forward is a linear function of the price of the underlying asset. The profit or loss you make on a trade is the difference of the underlying price at termination and the price at which you executed the trade times the notional amount. If you entered into a long position then you will gain if the price difference is positive and lose if it is negative. For a short position it is the exact reverse.

For more information about contract specifics, please visit https://proderivatives.com/contracts/usdethm9

 

Getting Started

In order to interact with the derivative contract, you first need to create your own instance of an approved account contract. This is a smart contract owned and operated by you. Its main functions are to provide an interface to the derivative contract and to hold the collateral for your positions. The amount of ether you deposit into your account contract is the maximum you can lose. Once the derivative contract has been settled, you can transfer the remaining balance out of your account contract and destroy it or continue to use it with other derivatives if you wish.

To review the source code of the account contract specification, please visit https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ProDerivatives/EthereumContracts/master/contracts/Account.sol

To read more about the mechanics of the contracts, please visit https://proderivatives.com/contracts

In order to participate in the contest, you need to deploy the account contract to the Ropsten test network and fund it with test ether. You can do this with your preferred tool for interacting with Ethereum-based smart contracts such as Truffle or Remix. For your convenience, a purpose-built web application is available which provides a GUI to perform most tasks. The web application can be launched from https://proderivatives.com/prod

The web application directly interacts with the blockchain using MetaMask or your local Ropsten node just as Truffle and Remix would.


The Contest

All verified account contracts registered with derivative deployed at 0x7e49ec8389335a6280fbd411d5ac704e646632a9 on the Ropsten network participate in the contest. Once registered, you can trade as much as you want to increase your chances of winning.

The contract used for the contest is a "managed forward" meaning that ProDerivatives will perform operational tasks for the benefit of all users:

  • Daily valuation between 16:30 and 17:00 UTC

  • Monitoring of collateral positions

  • Close-out of positions in default

  • Settlement within 24h after expiration

It is your responsibility to ensure that your account contracts holds sufficient collateral to cover your position and open orders. Should you fail to do that, ProDerivatives will attempt to reduce or close your position by posting offsetting orders at the price calculated by the derivative contract. The price includes a spread against your favor designed to attract traders willing to take over your position. It is more beneficial to you if you close your position yourself rather then letting the contract do it for you. On the other hand, you may be able to enter into profitable positions if you manage to pick up a close-out order from a defaulting counterparty.

Hint: The collateral requirement for a long position cannot exceed the position amount (notional * execution price). If you deposit this much collateral then there is no need to monitor the account.

After contract expiration and settlement, accounts will be ranked by the settlement amount they received.

The owners of the account contracts that receive the first, second, and third highest settlement amount are awarded ETH 1.5, 1, and 0.5, respectively. Winners will be asked to provide an Ethereum Mainnet address to receive the award.

Following account contracts are market-making and test accounts owned by ProDerivatives and will be ignored in the ranking:

0xb2fc43c41ddf1f80a7b93a819e97c9caef2ab7de,

0xcb53b4018088b31eb1b214f453be1754786e8d42.


Contact

Please email info@proderivatives.com with any questions or concerns and keep an eye an this blog posts for updates during the contest.

Additional contests featuring more complex contracts with higher payouts may be coming in the future.