Managing margin & liquidations in Coin-M trading

Last updated: September 29, 2026
Inverse futures delisting - October 30

Inverse futures are being delisted on October 30, all BTC, ETH, LTC and XRP inverse contracts settle at 16:00 UTC against CME CF reference rates. Move remaining collateral to your multi-collateral or spot wallet; anything left after November 15, 08:00 UTC transfers to spot automatically. Linear contracts unaffected.

Understand how margin, portfolio value, and liquidation work on Coin-M derivatives, and how to manage your risk effectively.

How Coin-M margin works

Coin-M contracts use cross margin exclusively. Each of the four supported assets has its own separate wallet, and the collateral in that wallet backs all positions within it.

Key point:

Coin-M wallets are completely isolated from each other and from your Multi-M wallet. A liquidation in your BTC Coin-M wallet does not affect funds in your ETH, LTC, XRP, or Multi-M wallets.

Asset

Index

Haircut

Margin Wallet

BTC

BRTI

N/A

FI_BTCUSD

ETH

ETHUSD_RTI

N/A

FI_ETHUSD

LTC

LTCUSD_RTI

N/A

FI_LTCUSD

XRP

XRPUSD_RTI

N/A

FI_XRPUSD

Coin-M inverse contracts are margined in the USD value of the base currency. No haircuts are applied to Coin-M collateral (unlike Multi-M, where non-USD collateral is subject to haircuts).

 

Your portfolio value determines whether your account is sufficiently collateralized. It's calculated per wallet as:

Formula

Portfolio Value = Available Margin + Total Unrealised P&L (in USD)

If your portfolio value is greater than or equal to the maintenance margin requirement for your open positions, your account is fully collateralized. If it falls below, liquidation may be triggered.

Margin netting applies when you hold both long and short positions across different maturities within the same Coin-M wallet, for example, a long BTC Perpetual and a short BTC Fixed contract.

When margin netting applies, the total margin requirement is:

Formula:

Total Margin Requirement = Max(Margin for Long Positions, Margin for Short Positions)

Only the larger side (long or short) counts toward your margin requirement. This applies to both initial margin and maintenance margin.

Why this matters: Margin netting makes it efficient to trade spread strategies. For example, if you believe a Fixed contract is overpriced relative to the Perpetual, you can short the Fixed and long the Perpetual. Margin netting ensures you aren't charged the full margin for both sides independently.

Important:

Margin netting only works within the same wallet. There is no netting across different assets, a BTC long and an ETH short are in separate wallets and are margined independently.

Liquidations

A liquidation occurs when your portfolio value drops below the maintenance margin requirement for all open positions in a Coin-M wallet.

Liquidation triggers when:

Portfolio Value < Maintenance Margin

When a liquidation is triggered, your positions in that wallet are closed by the system. Funds in your other wallets (Multi-M, Holding, or other Coin-M wallets) are not affected.

Different scenarios can cause liquidations:

  • •

    Price moves against your position. If the market moves significantly in the opposite direction of your trade, the unrealised loss reduces your portfolio value below the maintenance margin threshold.

  • •

    High premium or discount on Fixed contracts. Fixed-maturity contracts can trade at a premium or discount to the index price. A large swing in the premium can push your portfolio value below maintenance margin, even if the underlying index price hasn't moved dramatically.

  • •

    Funding rate on cross-maturity positions. If you hold positions in both a Perpetual and Fixed contract (using margin netting), the Perpetual funding rate payments can gradually erode your portfolio value. Combined with premium changes on the Fixed leg, this can trigger liquidation.

For more information on liquidations, see Liquidation FAQ. For information on Multi-M liquidations, see Margining & Liquidations - Multi-M Derivatives.

  • •

    Monitor your effective leverage. The closer your position size is to your total wallet balance, the higher your leverage, and the less room you have before liquidation. Check your effective leverage regularly in the Position Details view.

  • •

    Add collateral to your wallet. Transferring additional funds into the relevant Coin-M wallet increases your portfolio value and gives your position more breathing room.

  • •

    Reduce your position size. Partially closing a position lowers your margin requirement, improving your margin ratio.

  • •

    Use Stop Loss orders. Attaching a Stop Loss when you open a position sets a predefined exit point, limiting your downside before liquidation is reached.

  • •

    Keep funds in the correct wallet. Coin-M wallets are asset-specific. Make sure your collateral is in the right wallet for the contracts you're trading. Funds sitting in your BTC wallet don't protect your ETH positions.