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Portfolio Margin

Portfolio margin is one of Catswap's most important features: every position you hold — spot, margin, perps — shares the same collateral in a single account, and profits and losses offset each other.

Why it matters​

Traditional exchanges split your money into separate accounts: one for spot, one for margin, one for futures. No matter how much you're up on the spot side, it can't save a losing futures position — you can be winning overall and still get liquidated on one side.

Portfolio margin merges the account:

  • Profits help out — when spot goes up, the margin pressure on your perp short eases automatically, no manual transfers;
  • Hedging costs less — holding spot plus a short perp means the two legs offset each other, so you post far less than two independent deposits (this is the capital-efficiency core of hedging strategies);
  • Liquidation looks at the whole — the liquidation line is computed on the account's total risk, not on any single position. Opposing positions don't get picked off one by one.

What it looks like on Catswap​

  • Spot is collateral — the tokens you buy count toward your account directly. Opening leverage or a short doesn't need a separate deposit, and nothing moves across platforms;
  • One pool, one price source — every position is valued from the same pool's price. No "spot says one price, perps say another" mismatch;
  • Hedging comes naturally — in delta-neutral strategies (long token + short perp) the two legs' margins offset by default, see Hedging & Neutral Strategies.

Status: honestly labeled​

The unified account, spot-as-collateral, and single price source are foundations that exist today. Strict leg-by-leg risk offsets (hedging offsets, scenario stress tests) are the formal tiers of portfolio margin, delivered on a roadmap: spot–perp offset rules first, then a full portfolio risk model. Every step is verifiable on-chain.