Notes on margin, collateral and risk

Working notes from building a risk platform for digital-asset intermediaries — the arithmetic that is easy to get wrong, and the failures that only show up at the worst moment. No product pitches.

Financing6 August 20263 min read

Why you cannot compare funding rates across venues

Two venues quoting 0.01% are not charging the same thing. Settlement intervals differ, so the only honest comparison is annualised — here is the arithmetic.

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Margin6 August 20263 min read

The two-sided margin spread most intermediaries never monitor

If you take margin from clients and post margin to venues, the difference is your real exposure. Here is why it inverts quietly and how to catch it.

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Collateral6 August 20263 min read

Your liquidation horizon is shorter than you think

A 24-hour liquidation horizon against a T+1 custodian is already spent. Horizon is mobilisation plus execution — and most models only count execution.

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Collateral6 August 20262 min read

Haircut or advance rate? Same fact, opposite direction

A 90% advance rate and a 10% haircut are the same arrangement. Showing one under the other’s name is how a generous credit gets read as a punitive one.

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