MARK CONSTRUCTION AND EXECUTABLE PRICE
The venue trades on an executable mark built from a reference anchor and current venue posture.
| Input into the mark | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Reference anchor | Starts the pricing process from an externally sourced market view |
| Spread posture | Keeps the mark aligned with current venue risk and liquidity stance |
| Skew and open-interest pressure | Prevent one-sided crowding from being treated as neutral pricing |
| Depth and book checks | Stop thin or distorted book conditions from defining the venue mark |
| Max-move and continuity guards | Prevent sudden discontinuities from becoming venue truth |
#From reference to tradable price
The price layer starts with the accepted reference path.
The engine then decides what that reference means inside Dexter.
It applies spread posture, skew pressure, open-interest conditions, depth checks, and continuity guards before the market is allowed to trade on that level.
That is why the executable mark should be understood as venue pricing, not just feed ingestion.
#Executable mark versus external index
An index describes the outside market.
The executable mark describes what Dexter can responsibly trade right now.
Those are not always the same thing.
Under stress, the venue may need to keep the market open while tightening execution.
Under worse conditions, it may move to close-only, session-closed, or halted states instead of pretending the raw reference is still enough.
accepted source set
-> freshness and agreement checks
-> spread and skew posture applied
-> depth and continuity guards applied
-> executable mark becomes active
-> funding, liquidation, and state transitions use that mark#Review standard for the mark
The important question is not whether Dexter can show a price.
It is whether Dexter can explain why that price was safe enough to trade on.
Mark construction is the answer to that question.