In traditional finance, clearing is the invisible backbone that makes markets function. Every trade passes through a clearinghouse that enforces collateral rules, nets exposures, and guarantees settlement. Without it, systemic risk would be unmanageable.

DeFi skipped that step. Over the last few years, protocols have focused on matching orders, moving collateral, and building execution venues. But the infrastructure that makes those trades safe and capital-efficient — the clearing layer — has been missing. The result: fragmented liquidity, high collateral costs, and fragile systems that rely on trust in individual venues.

Pascal Protocol was built to close that gap.

• Portfolio margining:
  Positions across assets can offset each other, reducing overcollateralization.
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• Deterministic risk logic:
  Every account is assessed with real-time margin requirements enforced on-chain.
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• Venue-agnostic settlement:
  Any derivatives platform can integrate Pascal’s clearing infrastructure, ensuring consistency across markets.

Clearing is not a feature; it is the foundation. When it works, everything else in DeFi can scale. Without it, risk compounds and innovation stalls.

Pascal is already live, powering Jetstream — a next-generation derivatives venue running on Arbitrum Orbit — and partnering with protocols like Treehouse to test structured products. The ecosystem is growing, but the mission remains the same: to bring the capital efficiency of TradFi clearing to DeFi, with transparency and composability.

Over the coming weeks, we’ll take the next step in making Pascal accessible to a broader community. For those following along, this is the moment to understand not just what Pascal is, but why clearing matters.

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