Unified Trading Account Spot Margin Borrowing Rules

[Estimated reading time: 5 minutes]

Advanced mode in the unified trading account (UTA) supports spot margin trading. If your balance is insufficient when you place an order, the system automatically borrows the shortfall. You can also borrow manually at any time.This article explains the conditions that trigger borrowing, what leverage means and how to set it, the impact on margin, and the related risk warnings.For interest calculation and repayment details, go to Understanding Borrowing, Interest, and Repayment in UTA.

 

1. Applicable account modes

Account mode	Spot margin borrowing
Isolated mode	Not supported
Basic mode	Not supported
Advanced mode	✓ Supported

 

2. Borrowing methods

• Auto-borrowing: Once you enable leverage, the system automatically borrows the shortfall whenever an order amount exceeds your balance. You don’t need to submit a manual request.

• Manual borrowing: You can borrow at any time from the assets page in your unified trading account. Borrowed assets are credited directly to your balance, and interest starts accruing from the next full hour.

Both methods have exactly the same interest rates, risks, and repayment rules. For details, go to Understanding Borrowing, Interest, and Repayment in UTA.

 

3. Borrowing trigger conditions

3.1 Auto-borrowing scenarios with leverage

Once leverage is enabled, if a margin order amount exceeds your account balance, the system borrows the shortfall.Borrowed amount = max(0, required order amount – account balance)For example:

• Insufficient quote currency when buying: If your account holds 2000 USDT and you buy BTC worth 5000 USDT at 5x leverage, the system automatically borrows 3000 USDT.

• Insufficient base currency when shorting: If your account holds no ETH and you sell or short ETH, the system automatically borrows the required ETH before executing the sale.

Note: Borrowing can also be triggered when you place an order using unrealized PnL (UPL), even if leverage is not enabled.When you have available UPL, your spot available balance = balance + available UPL. If an order exceeds your balance, the system borrows the shortfall in the same way.However, borrowing generated through UPL comes with an interest-free quota. Interest is charged only if you exceed that quota, or if your original futures position incurs an unrealized loss after the borrowing occurs.If you also hold futures positions, be aware that your UPL can fluctuate.

For details, go to Understanding Borrowing, Interest, and Repayment in UTA.

 

3.2 Which assets support borrowing

You can check which assets support borrowing, along with current interest rates, on the loan data page.

 

4. Margin trading and leverage

4.1 What are "Margin trading" And "Leverage"?

Spot margin trading lets you use your own funds as margin to borrow additional funds and scale up your buy or sell size.

• Leverage: The ratio of your total position size to your own funds. Example: With 1000 USDT in your account and 5x leverage enabled, you can borrow up to 4000 USDT, giving you buying power of 5000 USDT.

• Higher leverage: Your own funds can support a larger position, but the same market move also has a bigger impact on your account.

• The maximum leverage available for each asset varies by tier limit. For details, check the trading rules page.

 

4.2 How to set leverage

Leverage is set per asset (not per trading pair) and applies to all margin trading pairs that involve that asset.There are two ways to set it:

1. Trading settings: On the trading page, go to Settings (top right) → Spot/Margin settings → auto-borrowing leverage settings.

2. At order placement: In the spot order panel, enable Margin → tap the leverage button → select your target leverage.

 

4.3 How leverage affects your borrowing limit and margin

Every loan in spot margin trading needs margin to support it.The amount of margin required is directly tied to the leverage. The higher the leverage, the more you can borrow against the same margin. The lower the leverage, the more margin you need to set aside.

That said, higher leverage doesn't mean unlimited borrowing. Each asset has tiers based on liability size. The larger your liability, the higher the tier you move into, and the lower the maximum leverage available at that tier.For example, USDT might have tier 1 (0–1000 USDT liability, up to 10x), tier 2 (1000–10,000 USDT, up to 8x), and tier 3 (over 10,000 USDT, up to 5x). As your liability grows, the leverage you can use decreases automatically, which caps the total amount you can borrow.

For specific tier details, maximum leverage, and MMR requirements, check the position tiers page.

 

4.4 Risks of using leverage

Liquidation risk: When your account's cross margin ratio reaches 100%, the system triggers liquidation. The higher your leverage, the greater the impact the same price move has on your MMR.

Recommendations:

• Keep a sufficient margin buffer before using leverage, so your maintenance margin doesn’t get close to your adjusted equity.

• Set take-profit and stop-loss levels when placing orders to limit your maximum loss.

• Monitor your account’s cross margin ratio regularly, and avoid holding positions for a long time without keeping track of market changes.

Impact of collateral ratio on margin: Some assets are counted toward adjusted equity based on their collateral ratio. The lower the ratio, the less that asset contributes to your margin relative to its market value.After you buy spot assets with a lower collateral ratio, your adjusted equity increases by less than the purchase value, while your initial margin stays the same. This can reduce your available margin.You can check each asset’s collateral ratio on the coin collateral ratio page.

Interest cost: Once borrowing succeeds, interest starts accruing from the next full hour, regardless of whether the order has been filled. If borrowing is triggered while your order is still open, canceling the order releases the loan immediately, but you must still pay any interest accrued before cancellation. For interest calculation rules and the interest-free quota, go to Understanding Borrowing, Interest, and Repayment in UTA.

 

FAQs

1. What's the difference between manual and auto-borrowing?

They’re triggered differently. Auto-borrowing is triggered by placing an order, so it’s easy to use. Manual borrowing can be started at any time, which is useful for preparing funds in advance or controlling exactly when you borrow.Both methods have exactly the same interest rates, risks, and repayment rules.

2. Does interest start accruing as soon as I place a limit order?

Yes. As long as placing the order triggers auto-borrowing (the borrowed amount is greater than 0), interest starts accruing from the next full hour, regardless of whether the order is filled.Canceling the order releases the loan immediately, but you still need to pay any interest already accrued.

3. Why did the funds available for futures in my account decrease significantly after I bought a small-cap coin?

If that asset has a low collateral ratio, such as 0.5 or even 0, it counts toward your adjusted equity only at that ratio after you buy it. As a result, your adjusted equity increases by less than the purchase value, which lowers your available futures balance.This is a normal part of how margin is calculated. You can check each asset’s collateral ratio on the coin collateral ratio page.

4. Can I use leverage to buy spot in basic or isolated margin mode?

No. Only advanced mode supports spot margin borrowing.To use this feature, switch to advanced mode first.

5. Why don’t I see a leverage option after enabling leverage?

If the coin you’re buying (the coin you'll receive) doesn’t support borrowing, the system still lets you borrow the coin you’re spending to complete the purchase. However, because the target coin’s collateral ratio is 0, it isn’t counted toward your adjusted equity. This means the system can’t use a fixed leverage to determine a safe borrowing limit, so manual leverage settings aren’t available in this case.The actual amount you can borrow is calculated in real time from your adjusted equity and risk-control parameters, and it’s typically lower than when both coins support borrowing.