FalconX, a leading institutional digital asset prime broker, has announced the successful launch of the first Forward Rate Agreement (FRA) trade referencing Treehouse Ethereum Staking Yields (TESR). This milestone marks a significant advancement in bringing rate-based financial instruments to the digital asset ecosystem.
FalconX Introduces TESR Forwards for Institutional Investors
The newly launched TESR Forwards enable market participants to hedge, speculate, and gain structured exposure to Ethereum staking yields by referencing TESR (Treehouse Ethereum Staking Rate). As a decentralized, consensus-driven benchmark, TESR provides institutions with a transparent and reliable framework for managing staking rate exposure.
“FalconX is proud to launch TESR FRAs, which give institutions access to sophisticated tools for managing staking rate exposure,” said Ivan Lim, Senior Derivatives Trader at FalconX. “This is an important step forward in integrating institutional-grade risk management into crypto markets.”
TESR: A Benchmark for the Digital Asset Fixed Income Layer
TESR is published by Treehouse, a digital asset infrastructure firm building the decentralized fixed income layer for crypto markets. Under its Decentralized Offered Rates (DOR) framework, TESR offers a transparent, consensus-based reference rate for Ethereum staking, updated daily using on-chain data and expert panel inputs.
According to Brandon Goh, CEO of Treehouse, “The introduction of TESR FRAs signals a key milestone in building the fixed income layer for digital assets. With TESR and the DOR framework, institutions and staking providers can hedge, price, and manage rate volatility—critical functions for any mature financial system.”
Growing Institutional Interest in Staking Rate Derivatives
The launch has already attracted interest from major institutional investors and hedge funds, including:
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Algoquant
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August
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Edge Capital
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Monarq
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Gallet Capital
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LeadBlock
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BitPanda
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MEV Capital
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Mirana
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Moonvault
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RockawayX
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Wave Digital Assets
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JPEG Trading
This highlights the rising institutional demand for Ethereum staking derivatives and the growing maturity of crypto financial infrastructure.
Michael Ashby, CEO of Algoquant, emphasized:
“The ability to manage ETH staking rate exposure is critical for maturing digital asset markets. Staking rate derivatives like TESR FRAs offer a clear, efficient way to manage rate risk and enhance capital deployment.”
Similarly, Nicholas Gallet, CEO of Gallet Capital, noted:
“Staking rate derivatives like TESR FRAs are long overdue. For the first time, long-term crypto holders can hedge against staking yield volatility and express forward-looking views in a format that mirrors traditional finance.”
TESR FRAs: Bridging Traditional Finance and DeFi
Unlike one-off proof-of-concept transactions, TESR FRAs are part of a live, continuously accessible market. Backed by FalconX’s execution infrastructure and Treehouse’s benchmark publishing, these contracts offer:
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Standardized documentation
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Robust trading workflows
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Recurring participation
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Deeper liquidity over time
TESR now serves as a crypto-native equivalent to LIBOR or SOFR, offering a benchmark interest rate for Ethereum staking in the post-Merge era. This makes TESR FRAs a vital tool for risk management, yield optimization, and rate positioning in institutional portfolios.
The Future of Ethereum Staking Rate Derivatives
Looking ahead, TESR is expected to enable a broader ecosystem of rate-based innovations, including:
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Interest rate swaps
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Structured yield protocols
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Advanced DeFi fixed-income products
As Ethereum staking yields evolve into the network’s native interest rate, the launch of TESR FRAs marks a pivotal moment in aligning crypto markets with traditional financial instruments.