Unified account

What is a unified trading account?

2025-08-01 06:330263

1. What is a unified trading account?

The unified trading account is a next-generation trading system introduced by Bitget, designed to enable users to trade spot and various derivatives using multiple crypto assets within a single account. This system simplifies the trading process by eliminating the need for fund transfers between different accounts. Moreover, profits and losses across different products can be calculated and offset together, enhancing capital efficiency. The unified trading account offers users three new account modes: Spot, Basic, and Advanced, to cater to different trading preferences and needs. Details are as follows:

Account mode

Features

Requirement

Spot mode (not available yet)

Supported trading type(s):
—Spot

*In spot mode, only spot trading is supported. Margin and futures trading are not available.

Default mode for compliant users.

Basic mode (not available yet)

Supported trading type(s):
—Spot
—USDT-M perpetual
—USDC-M perpetual

*In base mode, trading pairs denominated in USDT and USDC share the same margin, and trading PnL can be offset across pairs.

Default mode for global users. Complete the quiz to activate the mode.

Advanced mode

Supported trading type(s):
—Spot
—Margin —USDT-M perpetual —USDC-M perpetual —Coin-M perpetual —Coin-M delivery

*In advanced mode, margin is shared across all trade types, and trading PnL can offset each other.

Trading account equity ≥ 1000 USD. Complete the quiz and activate the mode.

2. How to set the mode in a unified trading account?

Users can select their account mode by navigating to Settings > Account Mode. Please note that account mode switching is only supported when there are no open orders or positions. If you're unable to switch modes, ensure that all orders are canceled, positions are closed, or debts are repaid first. Note: Account mode switching is currently not available, as only advanced mode is supported.

Note: You can upgrade a sub-account to a unified trading account, but you cannot switch it back to a classic account.

3. Asset-related terminology

In advanced mode, the assets in the unified trading account are displayed as:

Dimension

Term

Explanation

Coin

Equity

The total equity of a specific coin in the cross margin account.
Coin equity = balance + reserved + unrealized PnL

Balance

The balance of a specific coin in the account.

Available

The amount of a specific coin in the account that can be used to open positions.
Available = balance + unrealized PnL
Note: Unrealized PnL included in the available amount can be used to open futures positions and place spot orders.

Reserved

The reserved amount of a specific coin in the account, including cross margin open orders, undeducted interest in the cross margin account, and futures isolated reserved (position equity and open orders reserved).

Unrealized PnL

The total profit of all futures positions in the account using a specific coin as settlement.
Note: Unrealized PnL under isolated margin mode is excluded.

Loans

When the account balance of a specific coin is insufficient to cover the transaction amount, fees, funding costs, or unrealized losses exceeding the interest-free limit, the system will automatically borrow the required coin, which will be recorded as "Loans".
More details are available
here.

Debt

Debt = ABS(Min(balance + unrealized PnL, 0))

Account

Account equity

The net value of all coin assets in the account converted into USD.
Account equity = Sum(coin equity × coin in USD price)

Adjusted equity

The net value (converted to USD) of assets in the account that can be used as margin for spot and perpetual futures trading in cross margin mode.
Adjusted equity = (positive equity of each coin − isolated margin reserved) × spot USD price × coin discount rate − ABS(negative equity of each coin − isolated margin reserved) × spot USD price − spot and margin trading losses − estimated fees for all existing open orders
Spot and margin trading losses: the change in converted fiat value due to the difference in discount rate between the buy and sell coins.

Position value

Total value of all cross margin positions in USD. Note: The position value calculation formula for each business line is as follows:
1. Margin: position value = coin liability amount × coin price in USD
2. Futures: position value = position size × mark price × quote currency USD price + order size × order price × quote currency USD price

Margin reserved

The net value (converted to USD) of assets in the account that are used as margin for all cross margin positions and open orders.
Margin reserved = Sum(all coins(loans reserved + cross margin open orders reserved + cross margin positions reserved) × coin price)

Maintenance margin

The total maintenance margin of all cross margin positions in the account.
Maintenance margin = Sum(maintenance margin amount for each coin in cross margin positions × coin price)
Position maintenance margin = position value × maintenance margin rate
For more details on maintenance margin rate (MMR), refer to:
Link

Account leverage

Overall account leverage is calculated as follows: Account leverage = position value in USD ÷ valid margin

Cross margin rate

A risk measurement indicator for cross margin accounts. Cross margin rate = (maintenance margin + partial liquidation fees) ÷ adjusted equity Both maintenance margin and partial liquidation fees are calculated by adding the position size and the open order size.

Coin discount rate

In advanced mode, assets in cross-margin positions are converted into USD and used as valid margin. Since market liquidity varies significantly between coins, our platform uses the coin's discount rate to convert its USD value, ensuring a balance of market risk. This coin discount rate setting can be found via this link.

Example:

Users who collateralize BTC and DOT as margin and have no orders, positions, or liabilities:

  • User's unified trading account assets: 1 BTC + 500 DOT
  • Current price: BTC/USD = 50,000 USD, DOT/USD = 4 USD
  • Coin discount rate:
    • DOT discount rate = 0 (excluding margin)
    • BTC discount rate = 0.98 (for values between 0 to 1,000,000 USD)
  • Adjusted equity = 50,000 × 1 × 0.98 + 4 × 500 × 0 = 49,000 USD

Users who collateralize BTC as margin and have no orders, positions, or liabilities:

  • User's unified trading account assets: 40 BTC
  • Current price: BTC/USD = 50,000 USD
  • Coin discount rate:
    • BTC discount rate for the first 1,000,000 USD tier = 0.98
    • BTC discount rate for the amount exceeding the 1,000,000 USD tier = 0.97
  • Adjusted equity = 1,000,000 × 0.98 + 1,000,000 × 0.97 = 1,950,000 USD

Note:

    1. For coins with a USD index price, their USD index price will be applied directly.
    2. For coins with a USDT index price instead of USD, the coin's USDT index price and the USDT/USD index price will be applied.
    3. For coins with a USDC index price instead of USDT, the coin's USDC index price and the USDC/USD index price will be applied.
    4. For coins with a BTC trading pair spot price (instead of USD, USDT, or USDC index price), the coin's BTC trading pair spot price and the BTC/USD index price will be applied.
    5. The USD value of the coin or asset will be converted based on your target fiat-to-USD exchange rate, which may result in some discrepancies.

4. Trading rules

In advanced mode, all assets are converted to USD based on their coin discount rate, which are affected by liquidity, and serve as margin for all trading products.

A debt in a specific coin will automatically incur when the user places or fills a sell order, or incurs a negative profit, while the balance of that coin is insufficient. Interest is calculated based on the debt amount per coin. The borrowing tiers for each coin determine the required initial and maintenance margin.

1. Order verification rules in advanced mode

In advanced mode, when a user makes a spot or perpetual futures trade, the overall valid margin in the account must be greater than or equal to the margin reserved (including the order).

  • When the account has sufficient adjusted equity, an example of the position is shown in the figure below:

Coin

Equity

Current USD price

discount rate

BTC

1

50,000

1

USDT

100

1

1

DOT

20

5

0.5

A user wants to buy 20 DOT at a price of 5 USDT (for simplicity, we'll exclude transaction fees and interests).

Adjusted equity = positive equity of each coin × spot pair USD price × coin discount rate + negative equity of each coin × spot pair USD price − spot and margin trading losses − estimated transaction fees of all existing pending orders.

Spot trading loss is affected by the discount rate of the buying coin: the lower the discount rate, the higher the potential loss. The spot trading loss reaches zero when the discount rate is 1.

Since the coin discount rate for DOT is 0.5, the spot and margin trading loss is calculated as: 20 × 5 × (1 − 0.5) = 50 USD.

Adjusted equity = 1 × 50,000 × 1 + 100 × 1 × 1 + 20 × 5 × 0.5 = 50,150 USD

Since the adjusted equity (50,150 USD) is greater than the margin reserved (including the discounted amount), the order is placed successfully.

  • When the account has sufficient adjusted equity but insufficient balance for a particular coin:

Coin

Equity

Current USD price

discount rate

BTC

1

50,000

1

USDT

100

1

1

DOT

0

5

0.5

A user wants to sell 20 DOT at a price of 5 USDT.

Adjusted equity = positive equity of each coin × spot pair USD price × coin discount rate + negative equity of each coin × spot pair USD price − spot and margin trading losses − estimated transaction fees of all existing pending orders.

Adjusted equity = 1 × 50,000 + 100 × 1 = 50,100 USD

There is no spot trading loss since the discount rate for USDT is 1.

Margin reserved for this order = 20 × 5 ÷ 10 = 10 USD

Adjusted equity = 1 × 50,000 × 1 + 100 × 1 = 50,100 USD

Since the adjusted equity (50,100 USD) is greater than the margin reserved (10 USD), the order is placed successfully.

2. Interest-free amount

(a) Unrealized losses resulting from leveraged borrowing or futures positions will affect the margin limit of different tiers, the main account limit, and the platform's total loan limit.

(b) No interest is charged on unrealized losses of futures positions within the interest-free quota. However, any amount exceeding this quota will incur borrowing interest. More details: Link

2.2. Margin rules (advanced mode)

(1) Initial margin

Total initial margin = initial margin for loans + initial margin for derivatives

Initial margin for loan = coin debt amount × coin's USD price ÷ leverage

Initial margin for derivatives = max(initial margin to hold long positions + initial margin to open long positions, initial margin to hold short positions + initial margin to open short positions)

Initial margin to hold derivatives positions = position size × mark price × (1 ÷ leverage + taker fee rate) × quote coin USD price

Initial margin to open derivatives positions = position size × order price × (1 ÷ leverage + taker fee rate) × quote coin USD price

Total initial margin = initial margin for loans + initial margin for derivatives

(2) Maintenance margin

Total maintenance margin = maintenance margin for loans + maintenance margin for derivatives

Maintenance margin for loans = quantity of the loan coin × loan coin USD price × maintenance margin rate

Maintenance margin for derivatives = Max(maintenance margin to hold long positions + maintenance margin to open long positions, maintenance margin to hold short positions + maintenance margin to open short positions)

Maintenance margin to hold positions = position size × (maintenance margin rate + taker fee rate) × mark price × quote coin USD price

Maintenance margin to open positions = position size × (maintenance margin rate + taker fee rate) × mark price × quote coin USD price

Total maintenance margin = maintenance margin for loans + maintenance margin for derivatives

Note: The USD value of the margin will be converted based on your configured target fiat exchange rate, which may result in slight discrepancies.

3.In advanced mode, position rules are:

3.1 Perpetual futures positions under cross margin mode

In advanced mode, perpetual futures trading supports both open/close mode and buy/sell mode as follows:

(1) Open/close mode

(2) Buy/sell mode

Term

Explanation

Position size

In buy/sell mode, long positions are shown as positive values, and short positions as negative values.

Available

Open/close only = position size (new close position orders will replace old ones if they exceed the position size)

Profits

Unrealized PnL = opening direction × (mark price − average entry price) × position size.
The opening direction for a long position is 1, and for a short position, it is −1.

ROI

Profit ÷ initial margin

Initial margin

(1) Initial margin for the positions = position size × mark price × (1 ÷ leverage + taker fee rate) × quote coin USD price
(2) Initial margin for the orders = position size × order price × (1 ÷ leverage + taker fee rate) × quote coin USD price

Maintenance margin

(1) Maintenance margin for positions = position size × (maintenance margin rate + taker fee rate) × mark price × quote coin USD price
(2) Maintenance margin for orders = order quantity × (maintenance margin rate + taker fee rate) × order price × quote coin USD price

5. Risk control rules

(1) Risk control

The advanced mode has two layers of risk control: Order cancellation check and partial liquidation check. These layers will help to ensure smooth trading and protect users from potential issues like order cancellation or liquidation due to insufficient margin.

(2) Order cancellation check

Order cancellation due to risk control: When the risk level of a user's account exceeds a certain threshold (but has not yet triggered the partial liquidation alert), the system will automatically cancel some open orders. This action is taken to restore the account to a safer state and prevent further risk escalation. By doing this, the system aims to prevent all orders from being canceled if the risk suddenly reaches a more critical level.

Order cancellation rules for cross margin accounts in advanced mode

When the adjusted equity is less than the margin reserved, all perpetual futures open orders will be canceled. Spot and margin trading open orders will not be affected.

(3) Partial liquidation check

In advanced mode, partial liquidation is triggered when the margin rate reaches 100%.

When the cross margin rate reaches 80%, the system will send an early warning to alert the user about the potential risk of partial liquidation. The 80% threshold is set as the warning parameter, and Bitget reserves the right to modify this parameter based on actual conditions.

If the cross margin rate reaches over 100%, the system will cancel orders according to the following rules:

If the margin ratio reaches over 100% after the order is canceled, the account will trigger partial liquidation.

(4) Partial liquidation

Partial liquidation is handled by the liquidation engine at the mark price at the time of liquidation. The maintenance margin, determined by the tier of the partial liquidation amount, is used to cover slippage losses during the liquidation. The remainder is injected into the platform's risk provision.

The partial liquidation process occurs in three stages:

  • Stage 1: Reduce the opposing long and short positions for the same futures in open/close mode across all indices.
  • Stage 2: If all positions in the first phase are fully reduced, and the account still hasn't returned to a safe status, the system will attempt to convert spot assets with higher discount rates into debt assets. Converting high discount rate assets into liability assets increases the account's adjusted equity, while paying off the debt will release the margin tied up by the liability.
  • Stage 3: If all positions in the second stage are cleared, and the account is still not in a safe status, the system will start reducing the remaining non-hedged futures positions, prioritizing those that reduce risk the most. Each reduction will lower the position's tier until the account reaches a safe status.

If all futures positions are reduced to the first tier, and the account remains in an unsafe status, the system will directly take control of the user's account assets and remaining positions.

If the user's account assets become negative due to liquidation, the risk provision is used to offset the negative assets, resulting in a collateral shortfall compensation bill.

Thank you for your support and attention to Bitget!

Join Bitget, the World's Leading Crypto Exchange and Web3 Company