Introduction to the platform collateralized borrowing limit
Why is there a platform collateralized borrowing limit?
To manage overall platform risk, OKX imposes a platform-wide collateralized borrowing limit for each collateral cryptocurrency across trading accounts. This platform collateralized borrowing limit (“platform limit”) will consider, among other factors, the asset’s liquidity, trading depth, total platform volume, and borrowing volume.
Unaffected scenarios
When a crypto reaches the platform limit:
If your trading account doesn’t hold this crypto, there’s no impact.
If your trading account holds this crypto, the following trading and transfer activities won’t be affected:
Spot mode (borrowing off): transfer in, transfer out, trading of all instruments
Spot mode (borrowing on): transfer in and spot trading when there’s no borrowing frozen margin in the trading account
Futures mode: transfer in, transfer out, spot, expiry futures
Multi-currency margin mode: transfer in and spot trading when there’s no derivatives or borrowing frozen margin in the trading account
For each crypto’s discount rate details, please refer to discount rates.
Affected scenarios
When collateralized borrowing on a crypto reaches the platform limit and your trading account holds this crypto, the following trading and transfer out activities will be affected:
Spot mode (borrowing on):
When trading spot, and there's no borrowing frozen margin, this crypto won’t be included in the account’s available margin. Trading will be restricted if the account’s available margin is insufficient after placing the order.
When borrowing while trading spot, this crypto won’t be included in the account’s available margin and cannot be used as margin for borrowing.
When transferring out, the collateral crypto won’t be included in the account’s available margin. As a result of decreased available margin, the amount you can transfer may be lower.
The collateral crypto is included in the account’s adjusted equity. This crypto doesn’t impact your account’s margin ratio, and your positions won’t be liquidated as a result of this limit.
Margin trading in futures mode (selected margin and isolated margin modes):
You can’t open positions with margin trading pairs that include this crypto. Existing positions and their floating profit and loss (PnL) are unaffected, and the margin ratio is calculated as usual. Additionally, you can only close your positions using reduce-only orders.
You can trade margin pairs that do not include this crypto as usual.
Trading in multi-currency margin mode:
When trading spot, and there's no derivatives or borrowing frozen margin in the trading account, this crypto won’t be included in the account’s available margin. Trading will be restricted if the account’s available margin is insufficient after placing the order.
When trading spot margin, expiry futures and X-Perps, the collateral crypto won’t be included in the account’s available margin. This means that the collateral crypto won’t provide margin for borrowing or opening new positions.
When trading margin pairs in isolated mode, you can’t open new positions on margin trading pairs that include this crypto. You can close your existing positions using reduce-only orders. You can trade margin pairs that don’t include this crypto as usual.
When transferring out, the collateral crypto won’t be included in the account’s available margin. As a result of decreased available margin, the amount you can transfer may be lower.
The collateral crypto is included in the account’s adjusted equity and doesn’t impact your account’s margin ratio. Your positions won’t be liquidated as a result of this limit.
Receiving notifications when the collateral limit is reached
When collateralized borrowing on a crypto is close to the platform’s collateral limit and your trading account holds this crypto, the system will display a "the crypto has reached the platform's collateral limit" indicator in yellow next to the name of that cryptocurrency under the asset tab on the trading page. Once the limit is reached, the crypto can’t be used as margin for your new orders. This may result in failed orders.
When collateralized borrowing on a crypto reaches the platform limit and your trading account holds this crypto, the system will display a "the crypto has reached the platform's collateral limit" indicator in red, and it won’t be included in your adjusted equity when you place new spot margin orders or open X-Perps positions. But it’s still part of the adjusted equity for existing liabilities or open positions, so your maintenance margin ratio isn’t affected.
For openAPI users, you can use the colRes field in the "Get balance endpoint" or "Account channel" to check whether the collateralized borrowing on a crypto approaches the platform limit, or if it has reached the limit and collateralized borrowing is restricted.
[Get balance] (https://www.okx.com/docs-v5/en/#trading-account-rest-api-get-balance)
[Get sub-account trading balance] (https://www.okx.com/docs-v5/en/#sub-account-rest-api-get-sub-account-trading-balance)
[Account channel] (https://www.okx.com/docs-v5/en/#trading-account-websocket-account-channel)
Auto conversion
When the total liability for each crypto set as collateral exceeds a certain percentage of the platform's total limit, the auto-conversion mechanism may be triggered. This may result in the automatic sale of excess collateral crypto if you’ve set this crypto as collateral and have large borrowings. This auto-conversion mechanism is used to lower the overall collateralized borrowing of that crypto on the platform. This would involve one or more of the following steps, in any order, at OKX’s sole discretion:
Ranking users based on liability with the excess collateral crypto, and then ordering them from largest to smallest collateralized borrowing.
Canceling orders involving the excess collateral crypto.
Selling the excess collateral crypto in your accounts.
Canceling any pending margin orders involving the excess collateral crypto.
Closing margin positions in the excess collateral crypto, including selected margin and isolated margin positions.
When the platform-wide collateralized borrowing of a certain crypto exceeds the platform’s collateral limit, the system will notify you of a potential auto conversion if you’ve set this crypto as collateral and have large borrowings. This notification will be sent to your email and through in-platform messages.
Meanwhile, a warning light system next to the name of that crypto under the asset tab on the trading page will be used to indicate the risk of auto conversion. One to two lights indicate a risk of auto conversion, three lights indicate that auto conversion is imminent, and three lights with a red circle indicate that auto conversion is currently being performed to this crypto.
To lower this risk, consider selling this crypto or reducing your total liabilities.
For openAPI users, you can use the colBorrAutoConversion field in the "Get balance endpoint" or "Account channel" to check the auto conversion risk.
[Get balance] (https://www.okx.com/docs-v5/en/#trading-account-rest-api-get-balance)
[Get sub-account trading balance] (https://www.okx.com/docs-v5/en/#sub-account-rest-api-get-sub-account-trading-balance)
[Account channel] (https://www.okx.com/docs-v5/en/#trading-account-websocket-account-channel)
Auto-conversion methods may vary by account mode. To minimize market impact, the platform carries out auto conversion in batches, and has sole discretion to adjust the batch selling timing and quantities based on market conditions.
During processing, the system will notify you of the auto conversion through email and in-platform messages. For cryptocurrencies that have triggered auto conversion, the auto-conversion process will immediately terminate when the platform-wide collateralized borrowing amount drops below the platform’s collateral limit.
Disclaimer:
This content is provided for informational purposes only and may cover products that are not available in your region. It does not constitute investment or financial product advice, not it is a recommendation or solicitation to buy or sell financial instruments or to engage in any specific trading strategy.
Trading in financial instruments involves a significant risk of loss and may not be suitable for all investors. If you invest in X-Perps or other derivatives you may lose some or all of the money you invest. X-Perps are leveraged instruments; leverage can amplify both gains and losses. The value of investments and any income derived from them can go down as well as up, and you may not recover the amount originally invested. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results. You should carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite before engaging in any trading activity.
OKX Europe Markets Ltd ("OEM"), which is authorised and regulated by the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) under the Investment Services Act (Chapter 370 of the Laws of Malta) as a Investment Services Licence Holder (Licence No. OEML-15905).
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