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Order Settlement

When an option expires, the moneyness of an option is calculated to determine if settlement must be paid from option writers to buyers. Since options are only executed if beneficial to the buyer, only In The Money ("ITM") options require settlement calculation.

Option settlement is only calculated if ITM at settlement. ITM if:

  • Up Option: Close (settlement) Price > Strike Price
  • Call Option: Close (settlement) Price < Strike Price

Moneyness​

Moneyness refers to an options intrinsic value of an option at any point in time, relative to the price of the underlying asset. For the purpose of Up/Down options, moneyness at settlement is the relevant factor for determining option payouts.

Out of The Money (OTM)​

An option is OTM if the settlement price differs from the strike price and there is no value to be exchanged if settlement were to occur immediately. An Up option is OTM if the closing (settlement) price is lesser than the strike price. A Down option is OTM if the closing (settlement) price is greater than the strike price.

At The Money (ATM)​

An option is at the money if the settlement price is equal to the strike price and there is no value to be exchanged if settlement were to occur immediately. Both Ups and Downs would be ATM if the closing (settlement) price is equal to the strike price.

In The Money (ITM)​

An option is ITM if the settlement price differs from the strike price and there is value to be exchanged if settlement were to occur immediately. An Up position is ITM if the closing (settlement) price is greater than the strike price. A put option is ITM if the closing (settlement) price is lesser than the strike price.

Oracle (Pyth):​

Orders are settled on-demand by the Pyth Network. Pyth is a network of nodes and global trading venues that makes real-time price data available on-chain. On Buffer, slippage is used as the accepted price movement between when the user initiates the trade and when the trade is actually opened.

How Does It work?​

Orders are settled on-demand by the Pyth Network. Pyth is a network of nodes and global trading venues that makes real-time price data available on-chain. The Keepers fetch the price from Pyth internally, and publish it to the contract, the contract then internally verifies the data with Pyth removing any trust assumption on the keeper.
On Buffer, slippage is used as the accepted price movement between when the user initiates the trade and when the trade is actually opened. There can be a difference between the price provided on the front-end and that used by the keeper, which is why we check for slippage. The trade will be opened at a price provided by the keeper if it's within the slippage with the price provided by the user.

Price Sources​

Pyth sources prices in real time from the leading venues in each market category. For crypto, that includes top-tier spot exchanges. Foreign exchange includes top-tier banks providing institutional-grade data performance and reliability. Several venues are used to source prices in each market category to maximize data availability and speed while minimizing potential downtime.