A Unified Framework and Comparative Study of Decentralized Finance Derivatives Protocols

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Main Authors: Pennella, Luca, Saggese, Pietro, Pinelli, Fabio, Galletta, Letterio
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Pennella, Luca
Saggese, Pietro
Pinelli, Fabio
Galletta, Letterio
author_facet Pennella, Luca
Saggese, Pietro
Pinelli, Fabio
Galletta, Letterio
contents Decentralized Finance (DeFi) applications introduce novel financial instruments replicating and extending traditional ones through blockchain-based smart contracts. Among these applications, DeFi derivatives protocols enable the creation and trading of decentralized derivative instruments whose value depends on underlying cryptoassets, indices, or other reference variables. Despite their growing significance, however, they remain relatively understudied compared to other DeFi protocols, such as lending protocols and decentralized exchanges. This paper systematically analyzes DeFi derivatives protocols, categorized into perpetuals, options, and synthetics, with the aim of comparing their instrument structures, protocol mechanisms, operational dynamics, and economic agents. We provide a formal characterization of the main classes of decentralized derivative instruments and develop a protocol-agnostic framework that connects instrument-level specifications, market-state variables, and protocol-level mechanisms. We complement the analytical framework with numerical simulations that evaluate how derivative positions evolve under varying economic conditions, including changes in underlying asset prices, volatility, protocol-specific fees, and leverage. Overall, this study provides a structured analytical framework for understanding and comparing the design and functioning of decentralized finance derivatives protocols.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2512_19113
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle A Unified Framework and Comparative Study of Decentralized Finance Derivatives Protocols
Pennella, Luca
Saggese, Pietro
Pinelli, Fabio
Galletta, Letterio
Computer Science and Game Theory
Decentralized Finance (DeFi) applications introduce novel financial instruments replicating and extending traditional ones through blockchain-based smart contracts. Among these applications, DeFi derivatives protocols enable the creation and trading of decentralized derivative instruments whose value depends on underlying cryptoassets, indices, or other reference variables. Despite their growing significance, however, they remain relatively understudied compared to other DeFi protocols, such as lending protocols and decentralized exchanges. This paper systematically analyzes DeFi derivatives protocols, categorized into perpetuals, options, and synthetics, with the aim of comparing their instrument structures, protocol mechanisms, operational dynamics, and economic agents. We provide a formal characterization of the main classes of decentralized derivative instruments and develop a protocol-agnostic framework that connects instrument-level specifications, market-state variables, and protocol-level mechanisms. We complement the analytical framework with numerical simulations that evaluate how derivative positions evolve under varying economic conditions, including changes in underlying asset prices, volatility, protocol-specific fees, and leverage. Overall, this study provides a structured analytical framework for understanding and comparing the design and functioning of decentralized finance derivatives protocols.
title A Unified Framework and Comparative Study of Decentralized Finance Derivatives Protocols
topic Computer Science and Game Theory
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.19113