The language of on-chain FX.
Plain-English definitions for every term in Sera's documentation, API, and marketing copy — from Smart Order Routing to MCP.
AMM (Automated Market Maker)
A type of decentralised exchange that uses a mathematical formula — typically x·y=k — to price assets. Traditional AMMs suffer impermanent loss and require capital in both sides of a pair. Sera's virtual liquidity layer gives LPs AMM-like reach without the capital inefficiency.
CLOB (Central Limit Order Book)
An order-matching mechanism where buyers and sellers post bids and offers at specific prices. Sera's hybrid model lets issuers run their own CLOB-style book while routing excess demand through the protocol's other liquidity tiers.
Corridor
A directed currency-pair route on Sera — for example USDC → BRLA or XSGD → IDRX. Liquidity providers quote bid/ask on one or more corridors and earn the FX spread on every swap that routes through their position. Sera currently covers 30,000+ corridors.
Cross-border Payment
A payment that crosses a currency or jurisdiction boundary — remittances, B2B supplier payments, payroll, treasury FX, and more. Traditional cross-border rails are slow (1–5 days), expensive (3–7% in fees), and opaque. Sera settles the same flow in a single on-chain transaction.
EIP-712
An Ethereum standard for typed, structured data signing. Sera uses EIP-712 intent signatures so users can authorise settlement off-chain (no gas required at signature time). The protocol submits and pays gas on the user's behalf, producing a gasless experience.
FCIC AMM
Sera's passive vault tier for stablecoin issuers. Issuers deposit TVL and the AMM handles routing, market-making, and yield generation automatically. Yield is split 50/50 between the issuer and Sera Protocol.
FX Reference Rate
The benchmark exchange rate used to price a currency pair at a given moment. Sera's reference rate engine aggregates live mid-market rates from 50+ banks, 10+ payment service providers, and 10+ FX houses to compute a fair mid-rate before calculating the settlement price.
FX Spread
The difference between the bid and ask price in a currency exchange. On Sera, LPs earn the spread as yield on every swap that routes through their deposit. Spreads are set by the LP, not the protocol.
Impermanent Loss
The temporary loss in value that AMM liquidity providers suffer when the relative price of their deposited assets changes. Sera's LP model eliminates impermanent loss: matched-pair LPs lock a fixed spread, and unmatched LPs quote at their own stated rate.
Intent (EIP-712 Intent)
A signed message that expresses what a user wants — for example 'swap 1,000 XSGD for IDRX at the best available rate' — without specifying exactly how the network should execute it. Sera's engine finds the optimal path and submits the transaction.
JIT Liquidity
Just-in-Time liquidity: capital that a market maker injects into a pool for a single block to capture the spread on a specific swap, then withdraws immediately. Sera's CLOB integration supports JIT quoting by external market makers.
LP (Liquidity Provider)
A participant who deposits stablecoin capital into Sera and quotes bid/ask spreads across one or more corridors. LPs earn the FX spread on every swap that routes through their deposit, with no lock-up period and no impermanent loss.
MCP (Model Context Protocol)
An open protocol by Anthropic that lets AI agents call structured tools on remote servers. Sera exposes an MCP endpoint at agents.sera.cx/mcp, giving agents tools for fx_quote, fx_settle, corridors, and rates — enabling autonomous AI-driven cross-border payments.
MEV (Maximal Extractable Value)
Profit extracted by miners or validators by reordering, inserting, or censoring transactions within a block. Sera's intent-based execution model hides settlement path details until after the trade, making it resistant to front-running and sandwich attacks.
Non-custodial
A design where the protocol never takes possession of user funds. On Sera, stablecoins stay in the LP's or user's wallet at all times; the protocol only routes flow through deposits under instruction from the owner's signed intent.
On-chain Settlement
Final transfer of assets recorded directly on a blockchain, providing an immutable audit trail. Sera settles every swap on-chain in a single atomic transaction: either the entire trade completes or it reverts — no partial fills, no custodial bridges.
Smart Order Routing (SOR)
Sera's algorithm that splits a settlement into optimal sub-legs, discovers the cheapest path across all live liquidity pools, and executes atomically in one on-chain transaction. If any leg fails, the entire trade reverts.
Stablecoin
A cryptographic token whose value is pegged to an external reference — typically a fiat currency. Sera supports 600+ stablecoins denominated in 120+ currencies, including regulated fiat-backed tokens (USDC, BRLA, XSGD, IDRX, EURC, and more) and commodity-backed tokens.
Treasury Rebalancing
The process of adjusting the currency mix in a corporate or protocol treasury — for example converting excess USD to MYR before a payroll run. Sera's API and MCP tools support autonomous treasury rebalancing by AI agents without human intervention per transaction.
Virtual Liquidity
Sera's LP model where a single capital deposit earns spreads across 30,000+ corridors without the LP deploying separate capital into each pair. Capital efficiency is over 100× compared to traditional AMMs, which require assets on both sides of every pair.