Your discount rate is generally the rate you can borrow at, so it differs for everyone.
To see why, consider a really simple case: you can buy a contract to receive C cash at some time T in the future. Call X how much you'd pay today to enter that contract. You can borrow X today and agree to repay it using the payout from your contract. If you can borrow at a fixed, continuously compounded rate R, then the amount you repay is X exp(RT). So your breakeven (or "fair") price would have X exp(RT) = C, i.e. X = C exp(-RT). NB, the rate you use to discount a future value to know its present value to you is R, which is _your_ rate to borrow that much money for that length of time.
There are various models that aim to recover R from other values, but ultimately it's determined by market activity. Lenders either will or will not loan you X for T time at a rate of R.
What kinds of things might impact their willingness? Definitely their perception of present and future inflation rates, but also their ability to loan at a higher rate to someone else with a similar risk profile (i.e. the "rates market" as a whole) and also specifics of your own credit risk to them. If they think you might default on the loan, they'll charge you more for that added risk.
To see why, consider a really simple case: you can buy a contract to receive C cash at some time T in the future. Call X how much you'd pay today to enter that contract. You can borrow X today and agree to repay it using the payout from your contract. If you can borrow at a fixed, continuously compounded rate R, then the amount you repay is X exp(RT). So your breakeven (or "fair") price would have X exp(RT) = C, i.e. X = C exp(-RT). NB, the rate you use to discount a future value to know its present value to you is R, which is _your_ rate to borrow that much money for that length of time.
There are various models that aim to recover R from other values, but ultimately it's determined by market activity. Lenders either will or will not loan you X for T time at a rate of R.
What kinds of things might impact their willingness? Definitely their perception of present and future inflation rates, but also their ability to loan at a higher rate to someone else with a similar risk profile (i.e. the "rates market" as a whole) and also specifics of your own credit risk to them. If they think you might default on the loan, they'll charge you more for that added risk.