Collateral is what backs your positions. The DEX accepts two assets, with very different roles.
USDC and BAQ#
| USDC | BAQ | |
|---|---|---|
| Counts toward margin | 100% of its value | A limited credit, in cross margin only |
| Absorbs losses | Yes | No; under the code in force, BAQ is not sold to cover losses |
| Sold to settle trading losses under the current code | Yes | No; price and code-change risks remain |
| Deposit | One signature (permit), no gas | Wallet transaction (approval + deposit) |
| Withdrawal | Free signature or wallet transaction | Free signature or wallet transaction |
USDC is the settlement asset: fees, funding, losses and profits are all in USDC.
BAQ credit. In cross margin, deposited BAQ adds a credit to your equity equal to the smallest of:
- 5% of the value of your BAQ at the valid oracle price discounted by its confidence;
- 20% of your eligible USDC (your USDC minus what is locked in isolated positions);
- what remains of the 70% usable share of the protocol's BAQ reserve after other accounts' commitments.
Under the code in force, your BAQ is not sold or consumed to cover trading losses: after USDC, committed reserve backing in USDC is used. This does not remove BAQ price risk, contract failure risk or logic changes during the open phase. More details and an example in BAQ.
The 5%, 20% and 70% are the v2.2 reference values. The administrator can adjust them within the limits of the code in force, and a change applies immediately to existing accounts: lowering the credit can bring an account that uses BAQ as margin closer to liquidation.
Live credit is zero without a valid BAQ price (older than 10 seconds, session not open or confidence out of bounds); a price failure alone does not release backing already committed to a pending loss. Because BAQ does not absorb losses, losses are paid from your USDC first; if that is not enough, from the committed BAQ reserve, then the vault and the insurance reserves.
Depositing#
- USDC (recommended): one free signature (EIP-2612 permit). A protocol executor submits the deposit and pays the gas; no separate approval is needed.
- USDC (alternative): an exact-amount approval plus a deposit transaction from your wallet, with gas in ETH.
- BAQ: an exact-amount approval plus a deposit transaction from your wallet.
Deposits are credited to the wallet that made them.
Withdrawing#
Under the code in force, a withdrawal is authorized by your wallet and sends the funds to that same wallet; trading keys and sessions have no withdrawal permission. During the open phase the administrator can change this logic without mandatory advance notice (0 hours); the addresses holding the money are fixed, but their behaviour is replaceable. You can authorize it in two ways:
- Free signature (recommended). You sign a message; a protocol executor submits the withdrawal with fresh prices in the same transaction and pays the gas. No ETH needed.
- Wallet transaction (classic). You send the withdrawal yourself; it needs a little ETH on Base for gas.
A withdrawal is accepted only if, after it:
- your account equity still covers the initial margin of your cross positions plus the margin reserved by resting orders;
- there is enough USDC for pending fees, funding and any debt;
- prices meet the valuation rules for the cross positions. Ordinary valuation requires fresh prices (at most 10 seconds old); frozen or emergency markets use their fixed price and funding index. A closed market can restrict ordinary withdrawals.
The terminal checks all of this before asking for your signature, and prices for your open markets travel in the same transaction as the withdrawal. If the withdrawal would leave too little free margin, it shows "Not enough free margin to withdraw this amount. Withdraw less or close positions."
Margin locked in an isolated position, and refundable order bonds, return to your free collateral when the position or order is closed.
Note
The administrator can pause withdrawals for safety (for example during an incident). A pause lasts at most 72 hours and another one can only start after 24 hours without a pause; the contracts enforce it. While paused, the terminal shows when withdrawals resume. If the website is unavailable, see Exit without BotRadix.
Cross and isolated margin#
| Cross (default) | Isolated | |
|---|---|---|
| Margin | Shared by all cross positions | Separate for each position |
| BAQ credit | Counts | Does not count |
| Liquidation | Decided at account level | Decided per position |
| Maximum loss | Your cross collateral | That position's margin |
An account can hold cross positions on up to 32 markets at the same time. The opening fee of an isolated position is charged from your free USDC.
How much can I withdraw?#
Free collateral is estimated from equity, committed margin, order reserves, fees, funding and debt. BAQ credit is not withdrawable USDC. The terminal estimate can change before execution; the contract checks the actual state when the withdrawal is executed.