If you’ve dabbled in the world of traditional finance, you would know that at its very core are interest rates. From treasury bonds to corporate loans and mortgages, the cost of capital flows through rates. But in crypto, interest rates are still an emerging asset class. Funding rates, staking yields, and protocol-native APRs scattered across ecosystems, underused and rarely accessible for real trading.

That’s what Rho is fixing. 

What Is Rho? 

Rho Protocol is a new market designed to make crypto interest rates derivatives tradable onchain. Rather than speculating on token prices, traders on Rho can take positions on the rates themselves, like the funding rate of BTC perps or the staking yield of ETH. 

Each product is a futures contract. It tracks a rate and has a fixed maturity. In fact, Rho is the first venue where you can trade: 

• BTC and ETH funding rates from major CEXs like Binance, OKX, and Bybit 
• ETH staking yields via the CESR (Composite Ether Staking Rate) 

All live on Arbitrum. Rho is accelerating Arbitrum Everywhere with this unique twist on DeFi. 

Why Interest Rate Trading Matters 

In traditional markets, interest rate derivatives are among the most liquid and systemically important tools in finance. They power everything from risk management to macro positioning. 

But crypto didn’t have that…well, at least not before Rho came into existence. 

From the outside, funding rates are just a fee, and staking yields are just passive income, but these seemingly insignificant percentages are actually signals about the market’s cost of capital. And before the launch of Rho, there hadn’t been an easy way to trade or hedge them directly.

By turning rates into tradable futures, Rho unlocks a deeper layer in the crypto economy, one where capital can be moved based on funding pressure, yield changes, or macro rate shifts. It’s the foundation for more sophisticated strategies, both delta-neutral yield and directional macro plays. 

In addition to its core trading platform, Rho also offers Vaults, which are automated products that bring rates yield exposure passively to users. 

They’re designed to make crypto yield more accessible and help users deploy liquidity across rates strategies with one click. 

Powered by Arbitrum

Rho is fully deployed on Arbitrum, leveraging the platform's low fees, high speed, and seamless composability. With Arbitrum’s thriving DeFi ecosystem, Rho plugs directly into broader yield flows by bridging passive yield, active rate speculation and hedging. 

Deposits are supported from any chain via Squid and Axelar, making onboarding simple and efficient. 

Join the Race: Rho’s Trading Competition Is Live 

To celebrate its growth on Arbitrum, Rho has launched a month-long Trading Race with $10,000 in stablecoin prizes and up to 30,000 Rho Points on the line. 

There’s no need to win trades, just trade actively based on notional volume. Whether you’re a passive LP or a directional trader, you can participate. 

Looking Ahead  

As crypto matures, interest rates will play a bigger role in shaping capital flows, risk pricing, and product design. Rho is building the rails for this, turning fragmented yield benchmarks into a unified, tradable layer of crypto finance.