Gate Options Margin

Basic Definitions

Premium: The fee paid by the option buyer to the seller in order to obtain the right to exercise the option at expiration.
Option Out-of-the-Money (OTM) Degree: The OTM degree indicates how far an out-of-the-money option deviates from the underlying price. The OTM degree for in-the-money (ITM) and at-the-money (ATM) options is 0.
Initial Margin: Initial margin (opening margin): The minimum margin required to open a position.
Maintenance Margin: The minimum margin required to maintain a position. If the position margin falls below this level, forced liquidation will be triggered.
Order Margin: Funds that must be frozen when placing an order to ensure execution; buyers must be able to fully pay the premium, sellers must have sufficient margin to maintain their position, and it prevents excessive order placement without cost.

Premium Calculation

Trade Type	Formula
Buy Call/Put Option	Premium = Order Price × abs(Order Quantity) × Contract Multiplier

Example: Buy 1 BTC call option, order price $220, contract multiplier 0.01: Premium = 220 × 1 × 0.01 = $2.20

Option Out-of-the-Money (OTM) Degree

Option Type	Formula
Call Option	OTM = max(0, Strike Price − Underlying Price)
Put Option	OTM = max(Underlying Price − Strike Price, 0)

Example

Underlying price $115,000, strike price $116,000, call option → OTM = 1,000
Underlying price $115,000, strike price $112,000, put option → OTM = 3,000

Initial Margin Calculation

Option Type	Formula
Sell Call Option	[max(Initial Margin Rate 1 × Underlying Price, Initial Margin Rate 2 × Underlying Price − OTM) + Mark Price] × abs(Position Quantity) × Contract Multiplier
Sell Put Option	[max(Initial Margin Rate 1 × Underlying Price × (1 + Mark Price/Underlying Price), Initial Margin Rate 2 × Underlying Price − OTM) + Mark Price] × abs(Position Quantity) × Contract Multiplier

Example (Sell Call Option)

Underlying price $115,000, strike price $116,000, OTM = 1,000, mark price $200, contract multiplier 0.01
Initial margin = [max(0.10×115,000 , 0.15×115,000 − 1,000) + 200] × 0.01 × 1 = [max(11,500 , 16,250) + 200] × 0.01 = 16,450 × 0.01 = $164.50

Example (Sell Put Option)

Underlying price $115,000, strike price $112,000, OTM = 3,000, mark price $150
Initial margin = [max(0.10×115,000×(1+150/115,000), 0.15×115,000 − 3,000) + 150] × 0.01 = [max(11,515 , 14,250) + 150] × 0.01 = 14,400 × 0.01 = $144.00

Maintenance Margin Calculation

Option Type	Formula
Sell Call Option	(Maintenance Margin Rate × Underlying Price + Mark Price) × abs(Position Quantity) × Contract Multiplier
Sell Put Option	[max(Maintenance Margin Rate × Underlying Price, Maintenance Margin Rate × Mark Price) + Mark Price] × abs(Position Quantity) × Contract Multiplier

Example (Sell Call Option)

Underlying price $115,000, mark price $200, contract multiplier 0.01
Maintenance margin = (0.075×115,000 + 200) × 0.01 = 8,825 × 0.01 = $88.25

Example (Sell Put Option)

Underlying price $115,000, mark price $150
Maintenance margin = [max(0.075×115,000 , 0.075×150) + 150] × 0.01 = [max(8,625 , 11.25) + 150] × 0.01 = 8,775 × 0.01 = $87.75

Order Margin Calculation

Trade Type	Formula
Buy Option	Order Margin = Premium + Fee
Sell Option	Premium' = min(Mark Price, Order Price) × abs(Order Quantity) × Contract Multiplier Order Margin = Initial Margin + Fee

Example (Sell Order Placement)

Sell BTC call option, order price $210, mark price $200
Premium' = min(200, 210) × 0.01 = $2.00
Initial margin $164.50
Order margin = 164.50 + Fee(1) = $165.50

Equity and Risk Ratio

Item	Formula
Position Market Value	Mark Price × Position × Contract Multiplier
Total Position Market Value	Σ(Mark Price × Position × Contract Multiplier)
Equity	Account Funds + Total Position Market Value
Protocol Price Equity	Account Funds + Σ(Mark Price × Long Position × Contract Multiplier) + Σ(Max Protocol Price × Short Position × Contract Multiplier)
Available Funds	Account Funds − Maintenance Margin − Sell Order Margin − Buy Order Margin
Risk Ratio	(Maintenance Margin + Sell Order Margin) / Equity × 100%

Example

Account funds $5,000
Holding 1 sell call position (maintenance margin $88.25), position market value −$2.00
Equity = 5,000 − 2 = $4,998
Risk ratio = 88.25+165.5 / 4,998 × 100%

Fees

Type	Formula
Trade	min(Trade Fee Rate × Underlying Price, 0.1 × Order Price) × abs(Order Quantity) × Contract Multiplier
Call Option Settlement	min(Settlement Fee Rate × Settlement Price, 0.1 × (Settlement Price − Strike Price)) × abs(Position Quantity) × Contract Multiplier
Put Option Settlement	min(Settlement Fee Rate × Settlement Price, 0.1 × (Strike Price − Settlement Price)) × abs(Position Quantity) × Contract Multiplier

Margin Parameter Table

Underlying	Initial Margin Rate 1	Initial Margin Rate 2	Maintenance Margin Rate
BTC_USDT	0.1	0.15	0.075
ETH_USDT	0.1	0.15	0.075
DOGE_USDT	0.15	0.2	0.1
LTC_USDT	0.15	0.2	0.1
SOL_USDT	0.15	0.2	0.1

Disclaimer

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Gate Options Margin ｜ Gate