Boros: Introducing Funding Futures
We’ve just opened up Boros to the public, allowing the funding rates of BTC and ETH to be traded on-chain.
We’ve just opened up Boros to the public, allowing the funding rates of BTC and ETH to be traded on-chain.
What is Boros?
Boros is a new platform on Arbitrum by the Pendle team, enabling users to speculate on and hedge the yield on funding rates, starting with the BTC and ETH markets across major exchanges.
Boros utilizes Yield Units (YUs) for trades, with each YU representing yield from 1 unit of the collateral asset (e.g. 1 YU-ETH = Yield from 1 ETH notional value) until maturity. For those familiar with Pendle, this is akin to YTs.
What can you do with Boros?
Boros now allows the trading of Binance BTCUSDT and ETHUSDT funding rates, and will eventually expand to more assets (e.g. SOLUSDT, BNBUSDT), more platforms (e.g. Hyperliquid, Bybit), more maturities and further down the road, more yield products.
With Boros, you can short YU if you believe funding rates are going down, and long YU if you believe funding rates are going up. With this, traders exposed to funding rates can hedge their funding exposure on Boros by fixing the amount of funding rate they pay. Our Academy covers how to trade YUs in full detail here.
Additionally, Boros Vaults will be available for the corresponding markets, enabling users to provide liquidity directly to the market for:
- PENDLE incentives
- Swap fees
- Favorable Implied APR movements, which increase the value of your vault position
You can learn more about Boros vaults here.
Phased Launch for Boros
As a new platform being built to stand alongside Pendle V2, we are starting from 0 again. With a new margin system, risk management will be our main focus at the initial stages — especially at the start when new mechanics and market dynamics are being experimented with.
With this launch, Boros is being rolled out with limited availability:
- Open Interest (OI) will be initially capped at $10M Notional per market
- Leverage will be limited to 1.2x
These parameters will be closely monitored and evaluated on an ongoing basis, with adjustments made based on real-time usage and insights.
As the system progressively undergoes further validation, the team will systematically raise the OI cap and leverage limits. In parallel, an open referral program featuring rebates and fee sharing is also planned, all of which are softly targeted to roll out 8–12 weeks post-launch.
PENDLE incentives are available for users placing orders on the platform, and will be distributed pro rata based on notional volumes filled.
The Vision for Boros
Boros has the potential to bring new innovation and depth to the crypto market. Beyond the obvious utility to cash and carry traders, the mechanics we are bringing to life open up a new vertical for all assets with yield, regardless if they are on-chain or off. As we have seen with PTs from Pendle V2 now being recognized as ideal collateral and utilized in the billions, we also see a future where the trustless swapping of fixed to float and vice-versa is valued and utilized by the broader market.
In hindsight, it will seem obvious.
Our vision is simple. Boros will eventually stand alongside Pendle V2 as a core pillar of the yield ecosystem, serving as the go-to platform for users looking to hedge, speculate on funding dynamics and more.
While we’re starting with funding rates, our goal is to onboard the yield of the greater financial ecosystem with bonds, equities and other real world assets (RWAs) to be facilitated through Boros.
Job’s not done.