tbDEX PFI in 5️⃣ Minutes

Overview

In the tbDEX ecosystem, a Participating Financial Institution (PFI) provides liquidity offerings to customers via Wallets, allowing eligible customers to place orders and execute transactions.

In this quickstart, you'll:

✅ Set up a basic PFI with a catalog of Offerings

✅ Provide a Quote when requested

✅ Process a Order

Let's get started!

Set Up PFI

Create a DID

On tbDEX, PFIs are identified using Decentralized Identifiers (DIDs). Let's create a DID for your PFI and specify a service endpoint that allows Wallet applications to interact with your PFI:

See PFI DID

Structure Your PFI App

To operate as a PFI on the tbDEX network, you'll need a server that handles incoming requests from Wallet applications, a database that holds Offerings and Exchanges, and implementations of the OfferingsApi and ExchangesApi. We'll spare you the details in this Quickstart, however, for more info, check out the guide on Structuring a PFI App.

Fetching Offerings for Wallets

With your database populated with Offerings and the OfferingsApi set up, Wallet applications can now call getOfferings() to obtain a list of the currency conversions you offer and the requirements to transact.

Let's see what Offerings your PFI provides:

const offerings = await offeringsApiProvider.getOfferings();

Fetch Offerings from the PFI Endpoint

Process tbDEX Messages

PFIs and Wallet applications exchange messages to facilitate transactions. All messages are stored within an exchange in your PFI's database.

Let's walk through the process of handling these messages.

Create Quote

When a customer selects an Offering, the Wallet application calls createExchange() passing in an RFQ (Request for Quote) message. The RFQ is sent to your PFI and includes the customer's preferred methods of payment and the credentials that satisfy the requiredClaims of the selected Offering.

Using this submitted data, your PFI generates a Quote:

After creating this message, your PFI will sign it with your DID and write it to your database, where the Wallet app can retrieve it.

See the Quote

Process Order

The Wallet application presents the Quote to the customer, and they accept it. The Wallet proceeds by calling submitOrder() to place an Order.

When your PFI receives the Order, you'll settle the payin and payout outside of tbDEX using the rails of your choice, but will use the protocol to send OrderStatus updates so that the Wallet app can keep the customer informed:

See the OrderStatus

Close Exchange

Once the Order is completed (whether fulfilled or cancelled), you'll terminate the exchange with a Close message which can optionally include a reason and a success indicator:

See the Close Message

Next Steps with tbDEX

Congratulations on building your first PFI! To explore further, check out the full PFI guide.