Reduction in Base Maintenance Margin – XBT and ETH Series – 5 May 2020

On 5 May 2020 at 02:00:00 UTC, we will reduce the Base Maintenance Margin requirements for our XBT Series and ETH Series products as part of an ongoing trial period – this includes the ETHUSDM20 Quanto Futures contract launching on 5 May 2020 at 04:00 UTC. Base Initial Margin requirements will be unchanged. The current Base Maintenance Margin requirements for our products can be found here. 

These changes are a part of our ongoing efforts to fine-tune our platform for an even better trading experience, as well as to reflect users’ feedback. The end of this trial period will be announced with 1 week’s notice.

The affected contracts and their Base Margin requirements are shown in the table below.

Contract*	Current Base Maintenance Margin	Base Maintenance Margin from 5 May	Current Base Initial Margin	Base Initial Margin from 5 May
XBTUSD	0.45%	0.40%	1.00%	1.00%
XBTM20	0.45%	0.40%	1.00%	1.00%
XBTU20	0.45%	0.40%	1.00%	1.00%
ETHUSD	0.90%	0.80%	2.00%	2.00%
ETHUSDM20		0.80%		2.00%
ETHM20	0.90%	0.80%	2.00%	2.00%

*Details on links will update once the new margin requirements are in effect.

Impact of these changes (for XBT and ETH Series)

For traders on the Base Risk Limit (below 200 XBT notional for XBTUSD and 50 XBT for other contracts):

• Initial Margin requirements remain the same, so Bankruptcy Price will remain the same and Maximum Leverage available will remain the same.
• Maintenance Margin requirements will reduce, so Liquidation Price will move closer to Bankruptcy Price, and the amount of Maintenance Margin lost in the event of liquidation will reduce.
• The difference between Initial Margin and Maintenance Margin will increase, so Liquidation Price will move further away from Average Entry Price.

For traders above the Base Risk Limit (above 200 XBT notional for XBTUSD and 50 XBT for other contracts):

• Initial Margin requirements will reduce (Initial Margin = Base Initial Margin + Step x Base Maintenance Margin) so Bankruptcy Price moves closer to Average Entry Price, and Maximum Leverage available will increase.
• Maintenance Margin requirements will reduce so Liquidation Price will move closer to Bankruptcy Price, and the amount of Maintenance Margin lost in the event of liquidation will reduce.
  
• The difference between Initial Margin and Maintenance Margin will increase, so Liquidation Price will move further away from Average Entry Price.

Please note that the cap on the absolute Funding Rate will change in line with its definition as 75% x (Initial Margin – Maintenance Margin). The cap on Funding Rate changes between Funding Intervals (75% of Maintenance Margin) will also reduce. Please see the Perpetual Swap Contracts Guide for more information on these definitions.

Contract	Prev. Funding Rate Cap	New Funding Rate Cap	Prev. Funding Rate Delta Cap	New Funding Rate Delta Cap
XBTUSD	0.4125%	0.45%	0.3375%	0.30%
ETHUSD	0.8250%	0.90%	0.6750%	0.60%

If you have any questions, please contact Support via our contact form.

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