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Futures Account

The Futures Wallet is the wallet balance used specifically for futures trading. It acts as your margin account, meaning it provides the collateral that allows you to open leveraged Long/Short positions and keeps those positions safe from liquidation as the market moves.

Unlike the Spot wallet (where you mainly hold coins for normal buy/sell trading), the Futures wallet is designed to support:

  • Margin requirements (collateral for leverage)
  • Real-time PnL changes (your balance can change as price moves)
  • Funding and fees (if your futures product includes funding)
  • Risk monitoring (margin ratio, liquidation risk)

A simple way to think about it is:

  • Spot wallet = holding & normal trading balances
  • Futures wallet = margin balance that powers leveraged positions

What the Futures wallet is used for​

The Futures wallet is used for:

  1. Opening futures positions

    • When you open a Long/Short position, your futures wallet funds are used as margin to support that position.

  2. Maintaining positions

    • As the market moves, your unrealized PnL changes. If the market moves against you, your margin becomes less sufficient and your risk increases. The futures wallet is what protects your position from liquidation.

  3. Paying futures-related costs

    • Trading fees (maker/taker)
    • Funding payments (if perpetual futures is enabled)
    • Other position-related adjustments (depending on platform rules)

  4. Receiving futures-related results

    • When you close a position, realized profit or loss updates your futures wallet.
    • If you profit, your futures wallet increases. If you lose, it decreases.

  5. Transferring margin in and out

    • Users often move funds from Spot → Futures to fund margin.
    • They may move funds back from Futures → Spot when finished trading.

How Futures wallet works (core concept)​

Futures trading is built on margin.

Margin in simple words​

Margin is the collateral you commit so you can control a larger position with leverage.

Example idea (conceptual):

  • You have 100 sCNH in your Futures wallet.
  • You choose 10x leverage.
  • You can open a position with exposure larger than 100 sCNH (because leverage amplifies exposure).
  • But your risk increases: if the market moves against you, losses come out of your margin.

So, the Futures wallet is not just “a place to store coins.”
It is the wallet that absorbs profit/loss and supports leverage.

How balances change in the Futures wallet​

Your Futures wallet balance can change due to several reasons:

1) Transfers in/out (internal transfer)​

  • Moving funds from Spot to Futures increases Futures wallet balance.
  • Moving funds from Futures back to Spot decreases it.

2) Trading fees​

  • Every time an order fills, fees may be charged based on your fee tier and whether your order is maker/taker.

3) Funding (if perpetual futures)​

  • Funding can be paid or received periodically:
    • If funding is positive, one side pays the other (depends on market conditions).
    • Funding directly affects your futures wallet balance.

4) PnL (profit and loss)​

Futures PnL has two forms:

  • Unrealized PnL

    • Your “floating” profit/loss while the position is still open.
    • It changes as the price changes.
    • It is not final until you close.

  • Realized PnL

    • Your final profit/loss after closing a position.
    • This is applied to your futures wallet balance.

When you close a profitable position, futures wallet increases.
When you close at a loss, futures wallet decreases.

Futures wallet vs Position (important difference)​

Many users confuse wallet balance with position value.

  • Futures wallet balance is your available margin funds.
  • Position value is the size/exposure of the open position.
  • PnL is the change in value of that position, which impacts margin.

So it’s normal to see:

  • A position value much larger than wallet balance (because leverage)
  • Wallet balance changing as positions move or fees/funding apply

Why “Available” might be lower than expected​

Sometimes users cannot open a new order or transfer funds out of Futures wallet because part of the balance is reserved.

Common reasons:

  • You have open positions requiring margin
  • You have open orders reserving margin
  • You have pending fees/funding adjustments
  • Your margin is needed to keep existing positions safe

In other words:

Even if you “see” balance, it might not be fully free to withdraw/transfer if it is supporting risk.

Margin modes and how they relate to the Futures wallet​

If your platform supports margin modes, they change how the Futures wallet is used:

Cross Margin​

  • Positions share the same margin pool (your futures wallet balance).
  • More flexible, but risk is shared: one losing position can affect the whole wallet.

Isolated Margin​

  • Each position uses its own isolated margin allocation.
  • Risk is more contained to that position.
  • Still originates from the futures wallet, but is separated per position once allocated.

This is why the Futures wallet is critical in both modes—it is the source of margin.

Liquidation and Futures wallet (why risk matters)​

Liquidation happens when your margin becomes insufficient to support losses and maintenance requirements.

Factors that increase liquidation risk:

  • High leverage
  • Low margin
  • Market moving against your position
  • Fees/funding reducing margin over time
  • Volatile markets / fast price movement

The Futures wallet is the first place that absorbs these losses.
To reduce risk, users can:

  • Add margin
  • Reduce position size
  • Use lower leverage
  • Set stop loss (TP/SL)

Practical usage flow (how users normally use Futures wallet)​

  1. Transfer funds from Spot to Futures
  2. Open futures position (Long/Short)
  3. Monitor PnL, margin ratio, liquidation price
  4. Close position (profit/loss realized)
  5. Transfer remaining funds from Futures back to Spot (optional)

This flow is typical because users often keep long-term holdings in Spot and only move trading margin to Futures when needed.

Tips & best practices​

  • Start with smaller size and lower leverage to understand how margin behaves.
  • Always watch your margin ratio and liquidation price.
  • Keep extra margin available when using high leverage or