Platform
The OptAxe protocol
Interest is posted before anyone is asked for a price, so a request only ever goes to a counterparty who has already said they want the other side.
Post
A participant posts an axe: currency pair, structure, tenor or expiry, direction and an indicative size. The issuer chooses the distribution: all permissioned participants, a defined group, or named counterparties. The axe is not a firm price. It is an indication of interest. Post directly, via NLP, or API.
Issuer: market maker or buy-side
Screen
Participants with permission see the consolidated inventory. Filters by pair, tenor, structure and direction make it possible to identify an opposing interest in seconds rather than across a dozen chats. What a participant sees is governed by the issuer's distribution choice. Direct API available.
Viewer: any permissioned participant
Request
A participant sends a request for quote against a posted axe. The request goes only to the issuer of that axe, where the bilateral credit check takes place. Nobody else sees it. The issuer prices in their own system, over FIX or in the web UI, and returns a firm quote.
Requester: any permissioned participant
Trade
The requester accepts the quote request and the trade is executed on the MTF. The venue produces the trade confirmation, applies post-trade transparency rules and submits transaction reports where required.
Venue: OptAxe
Why the order matters
Targeted requests change the economics for both sides
How it happens today
Broadcast multi-dealer RFQ
- The requester reveals intent to every dealer on the list, whether or not they want the risk.
- The winning dealer takes on risk that several competitors now know about.
- Dealers spend time re-pricing requests they have little chance of winning or little appetite to win.
- Useful for small, liquid tickets. Expensive for size and for less liquid structures.
How it happens on OptAxe
Targeted, interest-matched RFQ
- The request goes only to counterparties who have already posted an opposing interest.
- Market impact is limited to the parties who are genuinely on the other side.
- Market makers price flow they want, from their own systems, at their own pace.
- Execution still happens on a regulated venue with full reporting.
The Rulebook
Non-discretionary rules
As an MTF, OptAxe operates under non-discretionary rules. The venue does not decide who trades with whom: the Rulebook and each participant's own permissions do. Order handling, pricing validity, cancellation, error trades and dispute handling are all set out in the Rulebook and the order handling policy.
Frequently asked questions
Is an axe a firm price?
No. An axe is an indication of interest. Firm prices are only exchanged in response to a request, with a stated validity time.
Who can see my axe?
Only the participants you include in the distribution when you post it. You can restrict to a group or to named counterparties.
When is the counterparty disclosed?
At RFQ, so the market maker can perform the credit check and price the request in their own trading system.
Who reports the trade?
The venue produces confirmations and submits transaction reports where required under UK MiFIR. Participants remain responsible for their own obligations under EMIR.
The terms used on this page are defined in the glossary.
See the protocol applied to real workflows
Posting an axe, screening and trading, and hosted pools.