Ostium is an open-source decentralized exchange on Arbitrum, an Ethereum Layer 2 network, that delivers transparent, non-custodial perpetual futures trading for real-world assets (RWAs) through synthetic on-chain price exposure powered by oracle feeds and peer-to-peer market making, allowing users to speculate on diverse categories like Forex pairs, commodities (e.g., gold or oil), equity indices, individual stocks, and blue-chip cryptocurrencies without physical custody or intermediaries. Users deposit stablecoins into liquidity pools to earn yields from trading fees while enabling efficient market depth, and the protocol supports fully on-chain order execution with low gas costs inherent to Arbitrum's scalability, distinguishing between Ostium Labs (the development entity), the core smart contracts for synthetic asset mechanics, the web-based Ostium Interface for intuitive trading alongside API or wallet integrations, and an upcoming community-driven governance framework for proposing upgrades and feedback via forums.