FAQ

Can I day-trade options on Phasis?

Yes. Phasis is a fully on-chain central limit order book with GTC resting orders. You can open and close positions intraday as often as you like. Margin is recomputed atomically at each fill — there are no async margin-gap risks between your trades. Unlike centralized exchanges, you retain self-custody of your USDC throughout.

How are options priced?

An off-chain stress-publisher service computes fair value using Black–Scholes pricing driven by the Pyth Lazer spot price and current implied volatility. It publishes a StressSnapshot on-chain approximately every 30 seconds. This snapshot anchors the margin model and provides a reference fair price.

The order book itself is free-form: market participants can bid and ask at any price. The fair price is a reference, not a constraint. Tight spreads around fair value emerge from market-maker activity.

What is intrinsic value?

Intrinsic value is the immediate exercise value of an option:

• Call: max(0, spot − strike)
• Put: max(0, strike − spot)

At settlement this is exactly what the protocol pays out in USDC. Before expiry, an option may trade above its intrinsic value — the extra amount is time value, which reflects the probability of further favorable moves and the time remaining until expiry.

Why does my order get rejected for margin?

Before matching your order, the protocol runs the portfolio-margin stress model across all of your positions for the same underlying. If placing the new order would bring your free balance below zero, the transaction aborts with a margin error.

Free balance = balance_quote − locked_margin − quote_locked

To resolve a margin rejection:

1. Close an existing short position to reduce your lock.
2. Deposit additional USDC.
3. Switch from a naked short to a debit spread (which locks zero margin).

Can I trade all three underlyings from one account?

Yes. A single Account<USDC> holds positions across SUI, BTC, and ETH simultaneously. However, margin is not cross-asset: BTC positions do not offset ETH positions. Each underlying has its own independent margin calculation, and the total locked margin is the sum of each asset's individual lock.

What happens to my position at expiry?

Settlement is fully automatic. At expiry the cranker reads the Pyth EMA price, sets the settle price on-chain, and credits or debits every account:

• Long in-the-money: USDC is credited to your balance_quote.
• Long out-of-the-money: No payout; the premium you paid is the total cost.
• Short in-the-money: USDC is deducted from your balance_quote to cover the intrinsic value owed.
• Short out-of-the-money: No deduction; the premium you collected is yours to keep.

You never need to take any action to exercise or close a position at expiry.

Can I see the Greeks (delta, gamma, vega)?

Yes. The SDK provides a greeks module that computes delta, gamma, and vega from the current StressSnapshot fair price and implied volatility. The Phasis frontend displays these values in the positions panel and refreshes them each time the snapshot updates (approximately every 30 seconds).

Is there a minimum order size?

On testnet the minimum order size is 1 contract. Production minimums per series may be set higher to prevent dust orders; exact limits will be published before mainnet launch.