Arbitrage-free exchange rate ensembles over a general trade network

Abstract

It is assumed that under suitable economic and information-theoretic conditions, market exchange rates are free from arbitrage. Commodity markets in which trades occur over a complete graph are shown to be trivial. We therefore examine the vector space of no-arbitrage exchange rate ensembles over an arbitrary connected undirected graph. Consideration is given for the minimal information for determination of an exchange rate ensemble. We conclude with a topical discussion of exchanges in which our analyses may be relevant, including the emergent but highly-regulated (and therefore not a complete graph) market for digital currencies.