What is Margin trading?
Margin trading allows users to borrow and trade crypto using eligible assets in their account as collateral. By using leverage, the profit and losses from trading are magnified.
Who is eligible to trade using margin on Gemini?
Margin trading is currently only available to customers in the US (except NY) who qualify as Eligible Contract Participants (ECPs).
Can I trade Margin using mobile, web or API?
Currently margin trading is only available using ActiveTrader mode on Gemini web or mobile. You can access your account from the account drop-down selector on the main ActiveTrader trading screen.
What is the maximum leverage available when trading using margin on Gemini?
Currently Gemini offers a maximum leverage of 5x when trading using margin. Some collateral assets may have leverage limits lower than 5x.
What are the current assets available to loan for margin trading on Gemini?
Currently Gemini offers USD, BTC and ETH as available loan assets.
What are the current assets available as collateral for margin trading on Gemini?
Currently Gemini allows ETH, BTC, XRP, SOL, BCH, SHIB, ZEC, HYPE and DOGE as eligible collateral.
What fees are associated with trading using margin on Gemini?
Margin trading will incur the same transaction fees as regular spot trading. The only additional fees are the interest rates charged on any loan balance and the Liquidation Fee that is charged should we need to liquidate any of your collateral assets. You are not charged transaction fees in addition to liquidation fees for liquidated events. Please see Gemini Margin Fee for more details on fees.
What are the key account risk metrics and how do I calculate them?
| Metric | Definition | Formula | Example |
| Available collateral | It represents the amount of collateral available for users to use. | Available collateral = Collateral haircut adjusted asset value + Collateral used (collateral haircuts) |
Collateral haircuts for USD, BTC and ETH are 0%, 20% and 40% respectively Liquidation haircuts for USD, BTC, ETH are 0%, 7.5% and 10% respectively Current balance for BTC and USD are 1 and -60,000 respectively Mark price of BTC = 100,000 USD Given that account max leverage is set at 10x Available collateral = 1 * 100,000 * (1 - 20%) - 60,000 = 20,000 |
| Margin asset value | The sum of liquidation haircut adjusted assets in the account, adjusted for open spot orders | Margin asset value = Liquidation haircut adjusted asset value - Collateral used (liquidation haircuts) | Margin asset value = 1 * 100,000 * (1 - 7.5%) - 60,000 = 32,500 |
| Collateral used | It represents the collateral used for open orders based on the collateral haircuts. The absolute value is shown on frontend. |
For buy orders where base currency collateral haircut ≤ quote currency collateral haircut This is a risk reducing order.
For buy orders where base currency collateral haircut > quote currency collateral haircut Scenario 1: Notional sum of base asset balance and existing open buy orders for base asset ≥ 0 Collateral used for limit orders = Order Size * Limit Price * (Quote Currency Collateral Haircut - Base Currency Collateral Haircut) * Quote Currency Mark Price/USD Collateral used for market orders = Order size * Mark Price * (Quote Currency Collateral Haircut - Base Currency Collateral Haircut) * Quote Currency Mark Price/USD
Scenario 2: Notional sum of base asset balance and existing open buy orders for base asset < 0, while notional sum of base asset balance, existing open buy orders and new buy order for base asset > 0 There is both risk increasing and reducing impact for the new order. Collateral used = min(Risk Increasing Impact + Risk Reducing Impact, 0) Risk Increasing Order Notional = Notional sum of base asset balance, existing open buy orders and new buy order for base asset Risk Reducing Order Notional = min(-Base asset balance notional, Notional sum of existing open buy orders and new buy order for base asset) Risk Increasing Impact = Risk Increasing Order Notional * (Quote Currency Collateral Haircut - Base Currency Collateral Haircut) * Quote Currency Mark Price/USD Risk Reducing Impact = Risk Reducing Order Notional * (1/(1-Base Currency Collateral Haircut) - 1/(1-Quote Currency Collateral Haircut)) * Quote Currency Mark Price/USD
Scenario 3: Notional sum of base asset balance, existing open buy orders and new buy order for base asset ≤ 0 This is a risk reducing order.
For sell orders where base currency collateral haircut ≥ quote currency collateral haircut Scenario 1: Notional sum of base asset balance and existing open sell orders for base asset ≤ 0 Collateral used for limit order = Order Size * Limit Price * (1/(1-Base Currency Collateral Haircut) - 1/(1-Quote Currency Collateral Haircut)) * Quote Currency Mark Price/USD Collateral used for market order = Order Size * Mark Price * (1/(1-Base Currency Collateral Haircut) - 1/(1-Quote Currency Collateral Haircut)) * Quote Currency Mark Price/USD
Scenario 2: Notional sum of base asset balance and existing open sell orders for base asset > 0, while notional sum of base asset balance, existing open sell orders and new sell order for base asset < 0 There is both risk increasing and reducing impact for the new order. Collateral used = min(Risk Increasing Impact + Risk Reducing Impact, 0) Risk Increasing Order Notional = Notional sum of base asset balance, existing open sell orders and new sell order for base asset Risk Reducing Order Notional = max(-Base asset balance notional, Notional sum of existing open sell orders and new sell order for base asset) Risk Increasing Impact = Risk Increasing Order Notional * (1/(1-Base Currency Collateral Haircut) - 1/(1-Quote Currency Collateral Haircut)) * Quote Currency Mark Price/USD Risk Reducing Impact = Risk Reducing Order Notional * (Quote Currency Collateral Haircut - Base Currency Collateral Haircut) * Quote Currency Mark Price/USD
Scenario 3: Notional sum of base asset balance, existing open buy orders and new buy order for base asset ≥ 0 This is a risk reducing order.
For sell orders where base currency collateral haircut < quote currency collateral haircut Scenario 1: Notional sum of base asset balance and existing open sell orders for base asset ≤ 0 Collateral used for limit order = Order Size * Limit Price * (1/(1-Quote Currency Collateral Haircut) - 1/(1-Base Currency Collateral Haircut)) * Quote Currency Mark Price/USD Collateral used for market order = Order Size * Mark Price * (1/(1-Quote Currency Collateral Haircut) - 1/(1-Base Currency Collateral Haircut)) * Quote Currency Mark Price/USD
Scenario 2: Notional sum of base asset balance and existing open sell orders for base asset > 0, while notional sum of base asset balance, existing open sell orders and new sell order for base asset < 0 The order is risk increasing but there are 2 parts to it. Collateral used = min(Risk Increasing Long Impact + Risk Increasing Short Impact, 0) Risk Increasing Long Impact = Risk Reducing Order Notional * (Quote Currency Collateral Haircut - Base Currency Collateral Haircut) * Quote Currency Mark Price/USD Risk Increasing Short Impact = Risk Increasing Order Notional * (1/(1-Quote Currency Collateral Haircut) - 1/(1-Base Currency Collateral Haircut)) * Quote Currency Mark Price/USD
Scenario 3: Notional sum of base asset balance, existing open buy orders and new buy order for base asset ≥ 0 Collateral used for limit orders = Order Size * Limit Price * (Base Currency Collateral Haircut - Quote Currency Collateral Haircut) * Quote Currency Mark Price/USD Collateral used for market orders = Order size * (Base Currency Collateral Haircut - Quote Currency Collateral Haircut) * Quote Currency Mark Price/USD
Note:
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An order to buy 1 BTC at 80,000 is placed Collateral used (collateral haircuts) = 1 * 80,000 * (20% - 0) * 1 = 16,000 Collateral used (liquidation haircuts) = 1 * 80,000 * (7.5% - 0) * 1 = 6,000 Available collateral = 20,000 - 16,000 = 4,000 Margin asset value = 32,500 - 6,000 = 26,500 |
| Leverage | The effective leverage in the account | Leverage = Notional value of positive collateral assets / Total notional asset value | Leverage = 1 * 100,000 / (100,000 - 60,000) = 2.5x |
How do I know how much I can buy using margin trading on a pair?
The buying power that you have on a pair represents the max amount that you can buy using margin trading. It is calculated based on your available collateral, the asset maximum leverage as well as the maximum account leverage.
What are the current haircuts applied to collateral assets for margin trading?
| Asset | Symbol | Collateral haircut | Liquidation haircut |
| US dollar | USD | 0% | 0% |
| Bitcoin | BTC | 20% | 7.5% |
| Bitcoin Cash | BCH | 20% | 15% |
| Ethereum | ETH | 20% | 10% |
| Dogecoin | DOGE | 50% | 25% |
| Shiba Inu | SHIB | 50% | 25% |
| Solana | SOL | 20% | 15% |
Ripple |
XRP | 20% | 15% |
| Zcash | ZEC | 30% | 15% |
| Hype | HYPE | 30% | 15% |
What is the maximum amount that I can borrow?
The amount that you can borrow is limited by the available collateral in your account as well as the loan capital available on the platform. You will not be able to place orders to borrow more if doing so results in your available collateral becoming less than or equal to 0. Also, if there is insufficient loan capital on the platform, you will also not be able to place orders to borrow more.
How does liquidation work for margin trading on Gemini?
When the Margin Asset Value in your account is less than or equal to 0, liquidation occurs.
The liquidation process is as follows:
Cancel all existing open orders. If this means that the Margin Assets Value is greater than 0 then the liquidation process will stop.
An Immediate-Or-Cancel order will be sent at the Zero Price for 50% of the position size will be sent on behalf of the account in liquidation. If the position size is smaller than $10,000 notional then 100% of the position size will be sent. If the execution of this order results in the Margin Assets Value being greater than the Margin Maintenance Limit then the liquidation process will stop.
The process will continue to send orders until the Margin Assets Value is greater than the Margin Maintenance Limit or until the entire position has been closed.
Should the execution of the liquidation orders occur at a price better than the Zero Price then the improvement is kept by the account. Any liquidation orders that are executed will be charged the Liquidation Fee of 0.5%, no other trading fees are charged.
The liquidation orders are sent to the order book for that instrument in order to be liquidated. If this is not possible due to a lack of liquidity at the desired price then the positions are passed to the Gemini Insurance Fund at the Zero Price.