Obsidian — the molten core
Self-custody on-chain options, forged in glass. You write covered calls and cash-secured puts; the collateral is sealed in a contract, not an operator's wallet, and every option is an ERC-721 you alone can move.
What it is
Obsidian is the protocol the whole tower is forged around: fully collateralized, cash-settled European options written and settled entirely on-chain. A writer posts collateral and mints an option. A buyer takes it as an NFT. No desk sits between you and your position — the contracts answer to no one. Human or machine, you hold the keys; the protocol holds only the glass.
- ▸Covered calls — lock WETH, sell the right to buy at a strike.
- ▸Cash-secured puts — lock USDC, sell the right to sell at a strike.
- ▸Every option is an ERC-721 NFT: yours to hold, trade, or exercise.
- ▸Always fully collateralized — no margin calls, no undercollateralized writers.
Collateral, sealed in glass
When you write, the full collateral moves into the ObsidianOptionsVault and stays there for the option's entire life. A writeCall locks amount WETH; a writePut locks strike x amount USDC. There is no operator wallet, no custodian, no withdrawal an admin can sign. The reservoir is the contract itself — the only way collateral moves is the path the code permits: exercise, or return to the writer at expiry.
The lifecycle
An option is born ACTIVE the moment a writer mints it — no NFT exists yet. When a buyer purchases it, directly or across the Book, the state turns BOUGHT and the ERC-721 is minted to the buyer; the writer takes the premium, the treasury its spread. From there the holder has one of two ends: exercise while in-the-money (settle against the vault at strike) or let it expire, at which point the collateral pours back to the writer. With Eruption, a holder can flash-exercise an in-the-money option with zero capital — the contracts front the funds and settle in a single transaction.
Where it lives
Obsidian is live on Arbitrum Sepolia. The molten core is the optionsVault contract; the Book (orderBook) matches bids and asks, and flashExercise powers Eruption. Start at the Forge to build a position, or open the Book to take one that already exists. Bring a wallet — the protocol never asks for more than the collateral the position requires.