Spot margin vs X-Perps: which one should I choose?

OKX gives you two different ways to trade with leverage: spot margin trading and X-Perps. They are not two versions of the same thing. They work differently, they cost differently, and they carry different risks. This article explains what each one is and how to decide which fits what you're trying to do.

Can I borrow against my crypto and withdraw the cash?

No. Borrowing on OKX is a trading facility, not a cash loan.

When you borrow on spot margin, the borrowed funds stay in your trading account and can only be used to place trades on OKX. They can't be withdrawn, sent to an external wallet or bank account, or used as collateral for anything else.

There's no standalone crypto loan product on OKX that lets you pledge your crypto and receive spendable cash against it. If that's what you're looking for, neither spot margin trading nor X-Perps will do it.

Your own assets are a separate matter. They remain yours and remain withdrawable, to the extent that they aren't needed to support an open borrow.

To end a borrow you either repay it or close the position that created it.

What's the difference between spot margin trading and X-Perps?

Spot margin trading lets you borrow so you can trade more than your own balance allows. What you end up holding is the real asset — it sits in your account like any other spot holding — plus a debt in the currency you borrowed. That debt shows in your account as a negative balance in that currency. A negative balance isn't an error; it's what a borrow looks like.

X-Perps are derivative contracts. You get exposure to an asset's price without owning the asset. There's no borrow and no debt balance — instead you hold a position with a margin requirement behind it.

X-Perps are USD-margined expiry futures: cash-settled contracts with a defined expiration date roughly five years out. Because that date is so far in the future, they behave much like perpetual contracts in day-to-day trading, but they are not perpetuals. Every X-Perp has a settlement date, and the date for a given contract is listed in the X-Perps contract specifications. For what an X-Perp is and how it relates to a perpetual future, see the X-Perps guide.

That single difference — owning the asset versus holding exposure to its price — is what most of the other differences follow from.

How do spot margin and X-Perps compare side by side?

Which markets can I trade on spot margin?

This applies to spot margin trading. Margin isn't available on every market. Whether a given pair can be traded on margin depends on the pair itself, on your account, and on the assets that are borrowable at the time — and that set changes.

Rather than working from a list in an article, check it in the product: go to Trade > Spot and margin and select the pair you're interested in. If margin trading is available for it, the margin controls appear in the order panel; if they don't appear, margin isn't available for that pair on your account. The assets that can currently be borrowed, together with their current rates, are listed on the margin fees page.

How much can I borrow on spot margin?

This applies to spot margin trading. Your borrowing limit isn't a single number. The maximum you can borrow is capped by three things at once, and the one that binds is whichever is lowest:

• the limit attached to your account tier

• the position tier limit for the currency you're borrowing

• how much of that currency is available in the borrowing pool

Because of that, the figure that applies to you can be well below a headline maximum, and it can change as your tier, your holdings or pool availability change. The limit that currently applies to your account is the one shown in the order panel when you place the trade. Current rates and borrowable assets are on the margin fees page, and the way the caps interact is explained in Introduction to margin.

If you're comparing against a figure you saw on a public rates or promotional page, check the same figure while you're signed in to your own account. Headline figures published on a public page are indicative and aren't necessarily the limit applied to your account.

Can I go short on spot margin?

This applies to spot margin trading. Yes, in effect — but it works differently from a derivatives short, and it's worth understanding why.

On spot margin you can borrow the asset itself and sell it on the spot order book. Later you buy it back and repay what you borrowed. If the price fell in between, you buy back for less than you sold for and keep the difference; if it rose, you buy back for more and take the loss. Economically that's a short.

What you're holding, though, is not a short position. You're holding spot assets on one side and a debt in the borrowed asset on the other. That has practical consequences:

• The borrow accrues interest for as long as it's open, so time works against the trade.

• The debt sits in your account until you repay it. Closing the sale doesn't clear it — repaying does.

• There's no separate short button and no short position to close. You close it by buying the asset back and repaying.

If you want a short that behaves like a position — one you open, monitor and close in a single place, with no borrow and no debt balance — that's what X-Perps are for.

What's a discount rate, and how does it affect the collateral behind my borrow?

This applies to spot margin trading. Your eligible assets act as collateral, but they're not counted at full face value. Collateral is measured as USD adjusted equity: each asset is converted to a USD value and then reduced by a discount rate — a haircut applied by currency and by amount held. Larger holdings of the same asset are usually discounted more heavily, tier by tier, because a large position is harder to liquidate cleanly.

Two things follow from that. First, the collateral value supporting your borrow is normally lower than the market value of the assets you hold. Second, discount rates are risk parameters and are adjusted over time, so they're not something to copy down once.

The rates in force right now are published on the discount rate page. For how adjusted equity feeds into your margin calculation, see Multi-currency margin mode vs portfolio margin mode.

What does borrowing on spot margin cost?

This applies to spot margin trading. Interest on a spot margin borrow is calculated and settled hourly. Four things follow from that, and they're the ones people get wrong most often:

• Interest is added to your outstanding debt rather than taken from the assets you're holding. If you borrowed USDC to buy BTC, the interest is added to what you owe in USDC; your BTC isn't sold to collect it.

• Because it's added to the debt, it compounds. The next hour's interest is charged on the larger balance.

• Your debt therefore grows on its own, even in a flat market. A growing debt lowers your margin ratio, and a falling margin ratio moves you closer to liquidation. A position you leave open and forget about gets riskier over time without the price doing anything.

• There's no repayment deadline, but no deadline is not the same as no cost. If you hold a borrow for two years, you accrue two years of interest. It's settled when you repay, when you close the position, or if you're liquidated.

The rate that applies to a borrow is the one displayed in the product at the time, not a fixed number quoted in an article. Current rates by asset are published on the margin fees page, and the calculation itself — hourly accrual on the amount outstanding — is set out in How to calculate borrowing interest and Margin trading in the app.

You can repay at any time, and interest stops accruing on whatever portion you repay.

How do I repay a spot margin borrow?

This applies to spot margin trading. A borrow is repaid in the asset you borrowed. If you owe USDC, the repayment is made in USDC — holding the equivalent value in something else doesn't clear it. USD and USDC are different assets, and a USD balance won't repay a USDC debt. If what you're holding isn't the borrowed asset, you first sell or convert enough of it into that asset, then repay.

You are not required to clear the whole borrow in one go. Under the Spot Margin Trading Agreement partial repayment is permitted, so you can reduce what you owe without settling the full amount.

Whichever route you take, interest keeps accruing on whatever remains outstanding until it's repaid. For how repayments are applied to principal and interest, see How to pay for coins and interest.

What does trading X-Perps cost?

This applies to X-Perps. X-Perps don't involve borrowing, so there's no interest and no debt balance that grows over time. Your costs are the trading fees charged when you open and close a position, and funding payments exchanged between long and short holders while your position is open. Funding can be a cost or a credit depending on the direction of your position and the funding rate at the time.

Funding isn't exchanged on the same schedule for every contract. The funding rate period is set per contract — check the X-Perps contract specifications for the contract you're trading, and the trading page for the next settlement time on that contract.

Trading fees depend on your VIP level and holdings; see the fee schedule for the rates that apply to your account. For the full cost breakdown, see X-Perps fees overview: trading fees, funding, and other costs.

Which margin modes can I use on spot margin and on X-Perps?

Spot margin trading uses cross margin only. There is no isolated margin mode for spot margin. In practice that means the eligible assets in your account back your borrowing as one pool: a loss on one position draws on the same collateral that's supporting everything else you hold. You can't ring-fence a single trade.

X-Perps let you choose between selected margin and isolated margin, so you can limit how much of your account stands behind a given position. See What are the margin modes in X-Perps: 【selected margin and isolated margin?】 and 【 What's Selected Margin? 】

For how liquidation works on the X-Perps side, see What's liquidation and how do I reduce the risk?

What happens if I withdraw while I have a borrow open?

This applies to spot margin trading. Because spot margin is cross-margined, anything that changes your account balance changes your margin ratio directly. Withdrawing free margin reduces the collateral supporting your borrow. A withdrawal that leaves your margin ratio comfortable has no effect on your position; one that pushes it low enough can bring you closer to liquidation, or be blocked. Check your margin ratio before withdrawing, not after.

Should I choose spot margin or X-Perps?

X-Perps tend to fit better if you:

• want to limit the margin standing behind a single position instead of having it draw on your whole account

• prefer a cost structure with no interest and no debt balance growing hour by hour

• want to take a short view and manage it as a single position, rather than borrowing an asset, selling it and repaying later

• are trading over shorter horizons, where funding matters more than compounding interest

• don't need to own the asset — price exposure is enough

Spot margin trading tends to fit better if you:

• want to actually own the asset you're buying, not just exposure to its price

• want a position with no settlement date attached to it at all

• are comfortable with cross margin and with interest that accrues hourly and compounds

Neither one is right for you if you:

• want to borrow against your crypto and withdraw or spend the cash — borrowed funds can only be traded on the platform

• want more than 10x leverage — that's the maximum available, and it isn't something support can raise for an individual account

• want to avoid the possibility of losing more than you put in — both products are leveraged and both can be liquidated

What should I check before opening a leveraged position?

• Check whether the leverage figure shown next to a market (for example 10x) is a maximum available, not a setting that's already switched on. Seeing it doesn't mean you're trading with leverage.

• Check the limit shown in the order panel rather than a figure you saw elsewhere. Borrowing limits and maximum leverage are applied per account and per market.

• Check whether you have any existing borrow before you assume a negative balance is a bug. A negative balance in a currency is a debt, and it will keep accruing interest until it's repaid.

• Check your margin ratio, not just your equity. On spot margin your margin ratio moves with interest and with deposits and withdrawals, not only with the market.

• Both products are leveraged. Losses can exceed your initial outlay and can happen quickly.