Margin Rules

Initial and Maintenance Margins

In derivatives trading, initial margin refers to the minimum collateral required to open a position, while maintenance margin is the minimum amount needed to keep the position open. Falling below the maintenance margin threshold may result in forced liquidation of the position.

To accommodate different trading strategies, the platform supports two types of margin mechanisms: Cross Margin and Isolated Margin.

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1. Cross Margin Mode

In cross margin mode, margin is shared across all positions within the same margin account. This means that:

• If a position’s margin falls below the required level, additional margin will automatically be drawn from the available account balance to prevent liquidation.

• Realized profits from other positions within the same account can offset unrealized losses.

📌 Example:

If a user opens a 100 BTC/USDT long position using 517.04 USDT as initial margin, and the required margin increases to 600 USDT due to market fluctuations, the system will automatically allocate the extra 82.96 USDT from the available balance to maintain the position and avoid liquidation.

Cross margin is suitable for hedging or arbitrage strategies, where users want to avoid isolated liquidation risks. By default, all positions are set to use cross margin.

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2. Isolated Margin Mode

In isolated margin mode, the margin allocated to a position is restricted to a specific amount. If the margin falls below the maintenance margin threshold, that position will be forcibly liquidated, without affecting the rest of the account balance.

Users can manually adjust the margin level for each isolated position, giving greater control over risk exposure.

📌 Example:

If a user opens a 100 BTC/USDT long position with 517.04 USDT in isolated margin mode and the market moves unfavorably, increasing the required margin to 600 USDT, the position will be liquidated if no additional margin is manually added, limiting the user’s loss to the initial 517.04 USDT.

Isolated margin is preferred for speculative and high-leverage strategies, where users want to cap their risk on a per-position basis.

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3. Margin Accounts by Collateral Type

Collateral assets are segregated into different margin accounts based on asset type. For instance:

• BTC margin accounts and

• USDT margin accounts

operate independently and do not share margin between each other.

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4. Managing Margin and Leverage

Default Setting:

• Cross margin is enabled by default.

Switching to Isolated Margin:

• Users can toggle between margin modes via the leverage slider on the order panel.

• Moving the slider to the right increases leverage, which reduces the required margin per position.

• Margin mode and selected leverage for each trading pair will be saved, even after the position is fully closed.

Real-Time Margin Adjustment (Isolated Only):

• When using isolated margin, users can dynamically adjust leverage and margin allocation to modify their liquidation price.

• The liquidation price is displayed in the Open Positions tab and updates in real-time as leverage is adjusted.

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5. Isolated Margin and Mark Price Risks

In highly volatile markets or during extreme trends (e.g., strong bull/bear moves), market prices may temporarily deviate significantly from the mark price.

• If a position is opened far from the mark price, immediate unrealized losses may be displayed.

• This does not necessarily mean actual loss, but it does increase the risk of quick liquidation—especially when using high leverage.

✅ Best Practice:

Avoid maximum leverage during periods of high volatility. Closely monitor your liquidation price, and consider allocating additional margin to extend the position’s survivability.