Generic puts, calls, futures

[markm]

What would be involved / what would it take to be able to do generic puts, calls, and/or futures?

An example use case for a generic put is someone who is considering building a widget factory. There is no point building the factory unless at least X number of widgets can be sold for Y somethings (such as bitcoins, for example) each at some future date, this future date obviously being a date after the factory has been built. This someone - a prospective widget-company, wishes to "put" X number of widgets at price Y at a future date.

A use case for a generic call is a prospective employee of a widget company, who has been offered a job constructing a widget factory. The job pays X number of widgets after the factory has been completed and has started actually churning out widgets. This prospective employee wishes to be able to "call" Y number of somethings (such as bitcoins, for example) at a price of X widgets at a future date.

Do those two examples get across the basic idea I am trying to get at?

-MarkM-

[MPOE-PR]

You'd need a valuation model. This usually takes inputs, at the very least the volatility of the underlying. In order for the volatility of the underlying to be meaningful that underlying must have been traded with sufficient liquidity for sufficient time.

Otherwise a generic option is like a generic vase. How do you go about manufacturing a generic vase? One of any size, shape and color?

[markm]

Well I wasn't' so much thinking of computing the value as of simply a generic app for trading the things.

If the assets involved are like in Open Tranactions. simply hashes of contracts/descriptions, the app need not have any concept of that exactly the two assets involved actually are, all it would need to do is enable people to set up the use of one asset to buy sell or trade futures of another asset.

Free open source futures trading app kind of concept. How many icecream cones will you pay for a right to buy how many sticks of bubblegum at X number of icecreamcones each. Asset-agnostic code.

-MarkM-