LP-005: MTL Platform Architecture

Abstract

This specification defines the architecture of the Lux Financial Platform — a modular, globally compliant digital securities infrastructure. The platform provides banking, foreign exchange, matching, and compliance as independent Go services that compose into a unified stack. White-label operators deploy the same images with their own regulatory licenses (ATS, BD, TA, etc.) and brand configuration.

Lux Group Securities operates from Luxembourg as a digital securities platform. White-label licensees operate under their own regulatory registrations in their respective jurisdictions.

Architecture

Module Map

Service Topology

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                    FRONTENDS                         │
│   exchange (DEX)      bank dash       admin (Base)   │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│               PLATFORM LAYER (MTL)                   │
│      bank — accounts, KYC, payments, compliance      │
├──────────┬──────────┬──────────┬──────────┬─────────┤
│  broker  │  forex   │ futures  │ captable │  dex    │
│  equities│  FX/BaaS │  commod  │  registry│  match  │
├──────────┴──────────┴──────────┴──────────┴─────────┤
│              PAYMENT RAILS                           │
│  SEPA · FPS · ACH · SWIFT · Interac · Wire          │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│              PROVIDERS                               │
│  Alpaca · IBKR · Apex · CurrencyCloud · OpenPayd    │
│  LMAX · Circle                                       │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

White-Label Model

The platform is designed for white-label deployment. Each WL operator:

• Deploys the same Docker images (no code forks)
• Provides their own brand config via runtime /config.json
• Holds their own regulatory licenses (ATS, BD, TA as needed)
• Uses their own provider credentials (Alpaca keys, CurrencyCloud keys, etc.)
• Runs on their own infrastructure (separate K8s cluster)

Example: A WL operator with SEC ATS + FINRA BD + SEC TA registrations deploys:

• ghcr.io/luxfi/broker:main with their Alpaca/IBKR credentials
• ghcr.io/luxfi/bank:dev with their CurrencyCloud keys
• ghcr.io/luxfi/dex:main for order matching
• ghcr.io/luxfi/captable:main for transfer agent functions

No Lux branding appears in the WL deployment. All customer-facing strings come from brand config.

Provider Interfaces

Each module defines a Go interface that providers must implement:

• broker: Provider (16 methods), OptionsProvider (8), MarginProvider (4)
• forex: FXProvider (6 methods) — pairs, quotes, orders, positions, rates
• futures: FuturesProvider (6 methods) — contracts, quotes, orders, margin
• captable: TAProvider — issuance, transfers, corporate actions, cap table

Payment Rail Detection

The bank module detects the appropriate payment network based on currency and jurisdiction:

Rail selection is automatic via DetectRail(currency, senderCountry, recipientCountry).

Compliance Pipeline

Every financial operation passes through compliance hooks before execution:

1. KYC Gate: Account must have kycStatus = "approved"

2. AML Screening: Transactions exceeding threshold screened via compliance service

3. Sanctions Check: Beneficiary creation screened against sanctions lists

4. PEP Screening: Account creation flagged for politically exposed persons

5. Audit Trail: All state transitions logged to immutable audit collection

Security Model

• All secrets from KMS (Hanzo KMS)
• HMAC-SHA256 webhook authentication (constant-time comparison)
• Atomic balance operations (database transactions prevent overdraft)
• Owner-scoped API rules on all collections
• CORS from environment variables (no hardcoded origins)
• Immutable audit log (delete/update blocked unconditionally)

Deployment

Each module produces Docker images tagged :main (production), :test (testnet), :dev (devnet).

White-label deployments consume the same images with different runtime configuration:

• Brand config via /config.json (K8s ConfigMap or KMS)
• Provider credentials via environment variables
• CORS origins via CORS_ALLOWED_ORIGINS
• No code changes required for white-label

History

• 2020: Initial broker prototype (Alpaca integration)
• 2021: Bank module, CurrencyCloud integration
• 2022: IBKR integration, compliance framework
• 2023: Matching engine (Go + C++)
• 2024: Cap table, futures module, FPGA PoC
• 2025: Options trading, multi-leg strategies, Apex provider
• 2026-02: Bank v2, OpenPayd, payment rails, WL separation

References

Lux Research Papers

• lux-lightspeed-dex — CLOB matching engine (Go/C++/FPGA)
• lux-perpetuals-derivatives — Perpetual futures protocol
• lux-mchain-mpc — MPC custody for institutional keys
• lux-economics — Economic model and fee structure
• lux-validator-economics — Validator incentives and staking
• lux-oracle-infrastructure — Price feed aggregation
• lux-credit-lending — Lending protocol design

Hanzo Research Papers

• hanzo-platform — Base framework for banking services
• hanzo-api-gateway — API gateway architecture
• hanzo-identity-nft — Identity NFT for KYC attestation

Zoo Research Papers

• zoo-dao-governance — DAO governance framework
• zoo-tokenomics — Token economics model