Access up to 10x leverage through one of the crypto industry's most established peer-to-peer funding markets.
Learn the reasons why professional and institutional traders have chosen Bitfinex for over a decade
You borrow directly from other customers through a peer-to-peer funding market. Rates come from supply and demand, not set by Bitfinex. Funding rates are transparent and dynamically set in a marketplace that has been operating for more than 13 years.
Open and close a margin position as often as you like and pay no trading fees. No maker or taker fees on spot, margin or derivatives, so more of every win stays in your pocket. The only cost is the funding interest on what you borrow. Learn more here.
Bitfinex has long been a chosen trading platform for experienced and high-volume traders. Major and institutional traders keep the funding book deep, so you can get funded at size, at market rates, and during any market conditions.
Access a comprehensive suite of trading tools designed for both active traders and long-term investors. Choose from Market, Limit, Stop, Trailing Stop, OCO and Scaled orders to manage entries and exits with precision.
You can also create subaccounts to separate strategies, organise portfolios and manage risk more effectively.
What is margin trading on Bitfinex?
It lets you borrow funds to open a position larger than your account balance, so you can amplify your exposure and go long or short.
How is margin trading different from spot trading?
With spot you can only trade what you own. With margin you borrow extra funds to trade bigger, which boosts both potential gains and potential losses. Also spot trading does not allow you to gain short exposure to an asset. Margin trading does.
What is the difference between margin trading and derivatives?
Margin trading is leveraged trading of the real asset, funded by a peer-to-peer market. Derivatives (perpetuals) are contracts that track the price. With margin you hold the actual asset; with derivatives you hold a contract.
Can I short on Bitfinex margin trading?
Yes. Open a short if you expect prices to fall, by selling on margin and buying back later.
Where does the funding come from?
From other users. Bitfinex runs a peer-to-peer funding market, so you borrow directly from other traders, not from the exchange. Bitfinex just provides the matching engine and liquidation systems. Borrowing rates are set by supply and demand in the funding market, not by a house desk. You can borrow at market rates, or bid your own rate and term.
What does it cost to borrow?
You pay funding interest on the borrowed amount, set by the market. This is the main cost of holding a margin position, since trading fees are zero.
Does my funding renew automatically?
Yes. If your position is still open when your funding expires, the system will automatically route a new funding order on your behalf at expiry at market rates to keep your position open. If you prefer more control, you can also manually reserve funding in advance using the peer-to-peer funding market. Learn more here.
What verification level do I need to start margin trading on Bitfinex?
Intermediate verification (or Basic Plus for accounts opened before 1 March 2022).
Is there a minimum to start?
There is no fixed account minimum, but each pair has a minimum order size, and your collateral value determines your borrowing power.
How much leverage can I use?
Up to 10x on margin, depending on the pair. Initial margin varies by pair, for example 10% on BTC/USD (up to 10x) and 20% on ETH/USD (up to 5x).
What can I use as collateral?
On Bitfinex you can pledge over 30 different assets against your margin positions. That spans cryptocurrencies like BTC and ETH, stablecoins like USDt, fiat currencies like USD, tokenised gold (XAUt), and a wide range of other digital assets.
What is a haircut?
The percentage Bitfinex discounts an asset's value when counting it as collateral, as a risk buffer. Stable assets are likely to have smaller haircuts than more volatile ones. Exact figures are live on the platform and may change with risk. This can be checked directly on the Trading Page UI under "Collateral Info" or API EP https://api-pub.bitfinex.com/v2/conf/pub:spec:margin
Does my whole wallet back my positions?
Your Bitfinex margin wallet is cross-collateral, so all the assets in your Margin Wallet work together to support your open positions. Profitable positions and spare collateral can help hold up one that is temporarily down, but risk is shared across the margin wallet.
Can I hold a long and a short at the same time?
Yes. For example, you can run a BTC long and an ETH short at once in the same Margin Wallet, all backed by your overall collateral.
Is it possible to open multiple Margin Trading positions for the same pair on Bitfinex?
No, only one Margin Trading position per trading pair can be opened at a time. If the existing position is not closed and you want to place an order on margin, the position will be updated with the new amount, and the Base Price will be changed to reflect the profit/loss partially realised on the new order.
You can however open a different position in a subaccount.
What does it mean to claim a position?
Claiming uses funds in your Margin Wallet to settle part or all of a position as an exchange buy or sell, effectively moving it from a borrowed margin position into assets you fully own. You need enough realised profit or funds to cover the cost plus any outstanding funding interest.
What is the base price?
The average price (cost basis) of your open position. It is the reference point for working out your profit, loss, and what you would need to claim the position.
How do I close a position?
Use the Close button to fire a market order that closes it, or place an opposite order (a sell to close a long, a buy to close a short).
How do I set a take profit or stop loss on a margin position?
Bitfinex does not have a single take-profit and stop-loss field attached to your position the way some platforms do. Instead, you protect a position by placing an order on the opposite side of it:
Two things to get right: make sure these are margin orders on the same pair and size as your position, and turn on Reduce-only so the order can only close your position and never accidentally opens a new one in the opposite direction (for example if the position was already closed or liquidated). One note on OCO: if you manually cancel one leg, cancel the other one too.
So unlike other platforms, where you fill in take-profit and stop-loss fields on the position itself, on Bitfinex you set them as separate opposite orders, or place a single OCO to cover both at once.
What are the trading fees?
Zero. Since 17 December 2025 there are no maker or taker fees on spot, margin or derivatives. The only cost of a margin position is the funding interest you pay margin lenders. Learn more here.
What is liquidation?
If your losses grow large enough that your collateral can no longer support the borrowed position, the system closes it automatically to prevent further losses.
What is a margin call?
A warning, sent by email, when your net equity falls below 1.5x the maintenance margin. It is not guaranteed in fast-moving markets, particularly if you have taken a large amount of leverage.
What is maintenance margin and net equity?
Net equity is your Margin Wallet balance plus or minus open profit and loss, minus funding costs. Maintenance margin is the minimum net equity needed to keep a position open, for example around 5% on BTC/USD. Fall below it and you are liquidated.
Can I lose more than my collateral?
Normally no, because positions are force-liquidated before that point. In extreme, fast-gapping markets there is always some residual risk, which is why managing leverage matters.
How can I reduce liquidation risk?
Use lower leverage, hold stable, low-haircut collateral, keep a buffer above the maintenance margin, and set stop-losses.
Important
Margin trading involves a high degree of risk. Leverage can work against you as well as for you, and you can lose more than you put in. The value of the underlying security can also fall, which reduces the collateral available to you and can increase your risk of liquidation.
