Multi-currency margin mode vs. Portfolio margin mode

Basic concepts that apply to both account modes

Equity

The total assets of a certain crypto in the cross-margin account and isolated positions.

Equity = Balance in the cross-margin account + Floating PnL in cross-margin positions + Margin balance in isolated positions + Floating PnL in isolated positions + Options market value - Accrued interest

eq in the details array

Free margin

The margin amount of a certain crypto that can be used for trading margins, expiry futures, perpetual futures, and options (short positions) trading.

Free margin = Max (0, Crypto balance in cross margin + Floating PnL in cross-margin positions – In use)

availEq in the details array

Available balance

The amount of crypto that can be used for isolated positions, spot, and options (long positions) trading.

Note: This description is for order calculation only and will not be displayed as a field on the platform.

availBal in the details array

Floating PNL

The sum of the floating PnL of all margin, futures, and options positions that are settled with a certain crypto, including positions under cross and isolated margin mode.

Floating PnL = Floating PnL of cross-margin positions + Floating PnL of isolated margin positions

Floating PnL of cross-margin positions = Floating PnL of cross-margin expiry futures positions + Floating PnL of cross-margin perpetual futures positions + Floating PnL of cross-margin options positions

Floating PnL of isolated margin positions = Floating PnL of isolated margin positions + Floating PnL of isolated expiry futures positions + Floating PnL of isolated perpetual futures positions + Floating PnL of isolated options positions.

upl in the details array

Account equity

The fiat value of all cryptocurrencies in your account.

Total equity = Sum (Crypto equity × Crypto price)

totalEq

Margin level

Margin level = Adjusted equity / (Maintenance margin + Liquidation fees)

Maintenance margin and liquidation fees are calculated using the sum of open positions and open orders

mgnRatio

Maintenance margin requirement (MMR) (non-portfolio margin mode)

The margin required to maintain current positions. Used to evaluate whether or not to start the liquidation process.

mmr

Portfolio margin mode key concepts

Maintenance margin requirement (MMR) (portfolio margin mode)

MMR is determined using risk units, where all instruments (futures, options, and spot (if used for hedging) are grouped by the specific crypto to simulate the maximum loss that can occur in a portfolio under a specific set of market conditions. The USD-value of the individual MMRs will then be summed up into a portfolio MMR (in USD value).

Portfolio margin consists of a derivatives margin and a borrowing margin. The derivatives margin under each risk unit and the borrowing margin are added to obtain the portfolio margin level.

MMR = Sum of USD value of each risk unit derivatives MMR + Borrowing MMR

Derivatives MMR = Max {[Max (Spot shock, Theta decay risk, Extreme move) + Basis risk + Vega risk + Interest rate risk + Stablecoin depegging risk], Adjusted minimum charge}

mmr

Initial margin requirement (IMR)

1.3 × MMR

Risk factor (MR)

Derivative margin calculates 7 risks (MR1-6 and MR9) by stress testing the portfolio under a specific set of market conditions of each risk unit, and then applying a minimum charge (MR7). The minimum charge is designed to cover any liquidation fee, trading fees, and slippage.

N/A

Risk unit

All derivatives are grouped into risk units based on their underlyings (e.g. BTC-USD, BTC-USDT, ETH-USD, ETH-USDT, etc).

All derivatives are grouped into risk units based on their crypto. For example, BTC-USD, BTC-USDT, and BTC-USDC will be a single BTC risk unit.

Futures and options positions with the same crypto are considered holistically within the same risk unit. Margins are calculated per risk-unit to account for risk-offsetting among instruments.

N/A

Spot in use

Spot in use is determined by the delta of derivatives of the risk unit. However, you can adjust the amount of spot you wish to use for hedging.

spotInUseAmt in the details array

Scenario-based margin calculation

Compared with spot and futures mode and multi-currency mode, we adopt a more scientific and rigorous risk model. Maintenance margin is calculated from stress test values in 9 dimensions. Traders who have large positions or hedged risks enjoy considerable margin requirements discounts.

Mode

ETH risk unit

Derivatives

ETHUSDT perpetual and expiry futures orders
ETHUSDC perpetual and expiry futures orders
ETHUSD perpetual and expiry futures orders
ETHUSD options orders
ETH spot
ETH/USDT spot orders
ETH/USDC spot orders

Account mode

Multi-currency mode

Portfolio margin mode

Tradable instruments

All instruments (spot, margin, futures, and options)

All instruments (spot, margin, futures, and options)

Prerequisite

Equity > 10,000 USD

Equity > 10,000 USD

Assets that can be used as collateral

All assets in trading accounts can be used as collateral and margin checks. Order validations will use their USD value while applying a tier-based discount rate.

Unrealized PnL in derivatives positions can be used as equity in corresponding assets, also known as PnL offset.

All assets in trading accounts can be used as collateral and margin checks. Order validations will use their USD value while applying a tier-based discount rate.

Unrealized PnL in derivatives positions can be used as equity in corresponding assets, also known as PnL offset.

Treatment of option value

Long option positions are placed in isolated mode. Only short option positions are considered as available margin in cross-margin mode.

Both long and short option positions can be evaluated in cross-margin mode. Therefore, the values of both are considered as available margin in cross-margin mode.

Position margining

Positions in different instruments are independently margined based on position tiers.

Derivative positions are grouped by risk unit. Their risks are assessed holistically under different scenarios in portfolio margin mode, and the required margin is calculated based on the maximum loss in all scenarios.

Additionally, the delta position from spot assets can be included in the corresponding risk units

For example, BTC spot assets in an account can be included in a BTC-USD or BTC-USDT risk unit for delta risk offsetting.

Assets

10 BTC

Positions

BTCUSD-14Feb25 Futures: -35,000 contracts

BTCUSDT Perps: +3500 contracts

BTCUSD-20250214-100000-C: -1000 contracts

BTCUSD-20250228-105000-C: -1000 contracts

Multi-currency margin (10x leverage)

IMR = 961,956 USD

MMR = 192,371 USD

Portfolio margin

IMR = 168,947 USD

MMR = 129,959 USD

Approximately 8 BTC will be occupied in spot in use to keep the portfolio hedged.

The remaining spot will not be used to hedge.

Conclusion

Portfolio margin mode is suitable for traders with large hedged positions.

In portfolio margin mode, you can use spot assets for hedging your portfolio to reduce maintenance margin requirements, which isn’t supported in multi-currency mode.

IMR needed for portfolio margin mode is significantly less than multi-currency mode.

Note: Under multi-currency mode, cross-margin mode doesn’t support options buy orders.

Assets

1 BTC

Positions

BTCUSD-14Feb25 Futures: -5000 contracts

BTCUSD Perps: -300 contracts

BTCUSDT Perps: +550 contracts

Multi-currency margin (10x leverage)

IMR = 106,374 USD

MMR = 5,503 USD

Portfolio margin

IMR = 8,132 USD

MMR = 6,035 USD

Conclusion

Multi-currency mode will have a lower maintenance margin, but the difference is generally quite small.

Portfolio margin mode will have a significantly lower initial margin for opening positions.

Assets

None

Positions

BTCUSD-14Feb25 Futures: -60,000 contracts

BTCUSD Perps: -300 contracts

BTCUSDT Perps: +5300 contracts

Multi-currency margin (10x leverage)

IMR = 154,651 USD

MMR = 7,775 USD

Portfolio margin

IMR = 284,621 USD

MMR = 188,823 USD

Conclusion

Delta one traders generally use multi-currency mode.

Portfolio margin MMR calculation is only capital efficient for a hedged portfolio. For single-directional portfolios, the calculation will be inefficient.