Executive Overview

UFX Protocol: Business Guide

The Universal Fund Exchange (UFX) is an institutional-grade blockchain protocol that enables compliant secondary trading of tokenized fund shares.

Protocol: Universal Fund Exchange
Standard: EIP-2535 Diamond
Network: Sepolia (testnet)

What Problem Does UFX Solve?

INVESTORS

Need Liquidity

Ability to exit positions before fund redemption windows. Trade 24/7 on secondary market.

FUNDS

Need Compliance

Must verify accreditation, residency, and exposure limits. All automated on-chain.

MARKET

Needs Fair Pricing

Trades should reflect current NAV, not speculation. Pricing bounds enforce discipline.

Key Benefits by Role

FUND ISSUERS

Provide Liquidity Without Running Trading Desk

✓ Provide liquidity to investors without running trading desk
✓ Maintain compliance control over all secondary trades
✓ Collect fees on secondary market activity
✓ Integrate with existing transfer agent systems
✓ Preserve NAV-based pricing discipline
INVESTORS

Access Secondary Market Liquidity

✓ Access secondary market liquidity for fund holdings
✓ Trade at fair prices tied to published NAV
✓ Maintain regulatory compliance automatically
✓ Settle trades on-chain with full transparency
✓ Benefit from competitive market maker quotes
MARKET MAKERS

Earn Spreads on Fund Token Flow

✓ Provide liquidity and earn spreads
✓ Access institutional fund token flow
✓ Operate within defined pricing bounds
✓ Integrate via standardized RFQ protocol
✓ Manage risk with compliance pre-checks

Protocol Architecture

Diamond Pattern (EIP-2535)

UFX uses the Diamond Standard which allows:

Modular: Each feature is a separate "facet" (module)
Upgradeable: Individual modules can be updated without redeploying everything
Unlimited: No contract size limits
Efficient: Shared state across all modules

Core Modules

GovernanceModule

System administration and emergency controls (pause/unpause)

FundRegistryModule

Catalog of all tradeable funds and their parameters

IdentityModule

Investor identity and KYC credential management

ComplianceModule

Rule enforcement and transfer eligibility checks

NavOracleModule

NAV price feed management and validation

PricingModule

Price validation against NAV bounds

FeeModule

Fee collection and distribution to protocol and issuers

TransferAgentModule

Registry update queue for off-chain reconciliation

RFQEngineModule

RFQ lifecycle management (create, quote, accept)

SettlementModule

Escrow and atomic swap execution

UfxViewModule

Read-only data aggregation for dashboards

High-Level Trading Workflow

1. SETUP → Admin configures protocol, Issuer registers fund, Oracle publishes NAV
2. INVESTOR → Creates RFQ to sell 1,000 shares at $10.50
✓ Compliance check passes
✓ Price within NAV bounds (±2%)
3. MARKET MAKER → Submits quote at $10.45 with 0.25% fee
✓ Compliance check passes
✓ Price within NAV bounds
4. INVESTOR → Accepts quote
✓ Quote still valid
✓ Compliance rechecked
5. SETTLEMENT → Escrow created, tokens approved
• Market Maker receives 1,000 fund tokens
• Investor receives $10,424 USDC (after 0.25% fee)
• Protocol receives $26 USDC fee
6. REGISTRY → Transfer agent reconciles off-chain cap table
7. COMPLETE → Trade settled, fees distributed

Compliance Framework

LAYER 1

Identity Verification

Every participant has on-chain identity with KYC level, residency, and credential expiry.

LAYER 2

Transfer Eligibility

Both parties must have valid KYC, meet minimum level, allowed residency, and within exposure limits.

LAYER 3

Pricing Discipline

Every quote price must be within NAV ± configured bounds. Prevents pump-and-dump speculation.

Fee Structure

Dual-Fee Model

PROTOCOL FEE

Default rate configured by admin, applied to all trades, collected in payment token

ISSUER FEE

Per-fund fee cap set by admin, fee rate in quote by market maker, withdrawn by issuer

Example Fee Calculation:
Trade: 1,000 shares × $10.50 = $10,500
Market maker fee: 0.25% (25 basis points)
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Protocol fee: $10,500 × 0.10% = $10.50
Issuer fee: $10,500 × 0.15% = $15.75
Total fee: $26.25
Seller receives: $10,500 - $26.25 = $10,473.75

Common Questions

What happens if NAV becomes stale?

If NAV exceeds the max age threshold, new RFQs and quotes will be rejected until fresh NAV is published.

Can an investor create multiple RFQs simultaneously?

Yes, there's no limit on concurrent RFQs per investor, as long as they have sufficient token balances.

How are fractional shares handled?

Fund tokens use 18 decimals (like ETH), so fractional shares are supported down to 1e-18.

How long does settlement take?

Settlement is atomic and completes in a single transaction, typically within one block (12 seconds on Ethereum).

Can trades be reversed?

No, once settled, trades are final and irreversible. Only pending escrows can be cancelled.

Next Steps