writing — essays on derivatives, RWAs & market structure

Long-form notes by Rohan Rathod on derivatives, on-chain market structure, and tokenized real-world assets.

• 2026.05.04 · markets · derivatives · microstructure
  Jane Street, Bank Nifty, and the Math of Expiry-Day Manipulation
  SEBI alleged Jane Street made ~₹36,500 crore manipulating Indian weekly index options. The trade is mechanically simple, the math is freshman options, and the reason it worked at this size is a structural quirk of the Indian market.
• 2026.04.27 · defi · tokenization
  The Race to Put Wall Street On-Chain
  Tokenized stocks have existed for over five years. They mostly don't work. The structural fixes — primary issuance, real institutional liquidity, dividend pass-through — and what it takes to actually put real assets on-chain.
• 2026.04.20 · markets · product · matchmaking
  The Bid-Ask Spread of Attention
  Dating apps are markets in attention, but they've been designed as if the spread doesn't exist. Adverse selection, toxic flow, and the case for an AI matchmaker — Aria — as a market maker.
• 2026.04.13 · markets · derivatives
  Why On-Chain Options Are Still Thin — And the Liquidity Model That Fixes It
  On-chain options remain a rounding error in crypto derivatives volume. The reason isn't lack of demand — it's that AMM designs leak capital to informed flow during oracle lag. A look at LVR, endogenous implied volatility, and what to do about it.