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Design Rationale

Ollo's current design choices are easier to understand when viewed as responses to FX-specific constraints.

Why A Central Limit Order Book​

The order book makes price formation and priority rules explicit. For FX, where spread quality and execution legibility matter, deterministic sequencing is a core design choice.

Why Allowlisted Collateral, Starting With USDC​

Using allowlisted collateral assets gives Ollo a controlled way to expand collateral support without treating every token as interchangeable by default.

The current closed beta starts with a single allowlisted collateral asset, USDC. That simplifies the current margin and settlement model while the broader collateral thesis continues to develop.

Why Isolated Margin​

Isolated margin reduces cross-position contagion and makes liquidation behavior easier to reason about on a market-by-market basis.

Why Lazy Funding​

Lazy settlement avoids iterating across all open positions on every funding interval. It preserves the economics while making onchain implementation more practical.

Why Virtual Tokens​

The virtual token layer lets the order book behave like an exchange matching concrete assets, while the actual economics still settle in collateral margin. In the current closed beta, that means USDC margin.

Why FX-First​

Ollo's main claim is not simply that onchain derivatives are useful. It is that FX has distinct structure, distinct frictions, and a meaningful gap in current onchain market design.