London, 18 September 2024, Multi-custodial interest rate futures market, Rho Labs, today announces the launch of the first liquid staking rates market for institutions, referencing the CESR™ (the Composite Ethereum Staking Rate) developed by CoinDesk Indices and CoinFund.

On Rho, positions can be taken in Ethereum staking rates for a wide range of maturities, starting from one month to one year or longer. This gives traders the opportunity to hedge rate volatility and to exploit future fluctuations in Ethereum staking yields.

Rho enables institutions to offer crypto-native fixed-income products, such as fixed rate staking products, at scale. Nonco has become the first institutional crypto trading firm to conduct a transaction on Rho’s new market. Fernando Martinez, CEO of Nonco commented; “We are excited to offer our expertise to enable validators and staking providers to offer better risk management and new types of products for their counterparts. Rho’s market allows us to offer these products at institutional scale to a wider range of partners.”

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The creation of CESR, the widely referenced institutional index for Ethereum staking rate, establishes a reliable staking yield benchmark for Ethereum validators and asset holders and marks a milestone in the evolution of Ethereum staking. It has laid the groundwork for the creation of a forward rate curve and can serve as a new discount rate, two critical mainstays of traditional finance.

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Alan Campbell, President at CoinDesk Indices commented, “Staking rates are to crypto what interest rates are to traditional financial markets. CESR was designed to enable new opportunities for risk management across global finance. We’re thrilled Nonco and Rho Labs are innovating in this space, highlighting the critical role of a reliable benchmark staking rate for risk management.”

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Alex Ryvkin, CEO of Rho Labs added: “As institutional participation in crypto grows and regulation catches up with the market, staking yield is best placed to become crypto’s native risk-free rate. Introducing universally referenced benchmarks such as CESR will enable institutional-grade risk management practices and pave the way for the proliferation of fixed-income and other more complex products. Pioneers like Nonco are essential for the ecosystem to innovate and mature. We are grateful to Nonco for their vision and trust, and excited to continue developing this market together.”

For more on the first liquid staking rates market for CESR visit https://www.rho.trading/

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About Rho Labs
Rho Labs is the developer of Rho Protocol, a novel institutional-grade decentralized marketplace on Arbitrum that allows retail and professional traders to exchange interest rate risk via on-chain swaps and futures in a secure, efficient, and compliant manner. Rho Protocol's first family of products are fixed-for-floating interest rate futures on a diverse set of index rates. In TradFi, this product comprises over 60% of the total outstanding interest in interest rate derivatives.

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About CoinDesk Indices
Since 2014, CoinDesk Indices has been at the forefront of the digital asset revolution, empowering investors globally. A portfolio company of the Bullish group, our indices form the foundation of the world's largest digital asset products. Known for their precision and compliance, flagships such as the CoinDesk Bitcoin Price Index (XBX) and the CoinDesk 20 Index set the industry standard for measuring, trading, and investing in digital assets. With tens of billions of dollars in benchmarked assets, CoinDesk Indices is a trusted partner. Discover more at https://coindeskmarkets.com

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About Nonco

Nonco is an institutional crypto trading firm with a unique approach. With ten years of experience in trading digital assets, our team employs a risk-mitigating, noncustodial approach that leverages clearing, bilateral, and smart contract settlement capabilities. Our expertise spans across stablecoins, legacy and altcoin execution. Discover more at https://nonco.com/

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Contacts

Rho Labs

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Media@rholabs.io

CoinDesk Indices

Emma Martin, Allison Worldwide: coindesk@allisonworldwide.com

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CoinDesk Indices Disclaimer:

CoinDesk^® and the Composite Ether Staking Rate (CESR^®) (the “Data”) are trade or service marks of CoinDesk Indices, Inc. (“CDI”), the publisher of the Data, and/or its licensors, including CoinFund Management LLC (“CoinFund”), the owner and administrator of CESR (collectively with CDI, the “Rate Providers”). The Rate Providers own all proprietary rights in the Data. The Rate Providers do not sponsor, endorse, sell, promote or manage any investment offered by any third party that seeks to provide an investment return based on the performance of the Data (“CESR Products”). CDI is neither an investment adviser nor a commodity trading adviser and the Rate Providers make no representation regarding the advisability of making an investment in any CESR Product. The Rate Providers do not act as fiduciaries with respect to any Products. A decision to invest in any Product should not be made in reliance on any of the statements set forth in this document or elsewhere by the Rate Providers. The Rate Providers do not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, timeliness, adequacy, validity or availability of any of the Data. The Rate Providers are not responsible for any errors or omissions, regardless of the cause, in the results obtained from the use of any of the Data. The Rate Providers do not assume any obligation to update the Data following publication in any form or format. © 2024 CDI and CoinFund. All rights reserved.