Unified Trading Account

Borrowing, Interest, and Repayment in Unified Accounts

Last updated: 07/10/2026 06:25:47
In the multi-currency margin mode of Unified Trading Accounts, users can borrow assets to facilitate margin trading (coming soon) or futures trading. This article will guide you through the borrowing rules, interest calculation, and repayment steps within the Unified Account.

I. Borrowing Mechanism
  1. Auto-Borrow

    If your balance in a certain asset is insufficient during trading, the system will automatically borrow the required asset for you based on your available margin, resulting in borrowing liabilities.

  2. Borrowing Limit

    The borrowing limit is determined by your account’s net asset value, margin conversion rate, and risk level.

    Borrowing limits vary by currency.

  3. Use Cases

    Margin trading (coming soon): If your balance is insufficient when using leverage in spot trading, the system will borrow the asset for you automatically.

    Futures trading: Borrowing doesn’t occur when opening a position. However, if unrealized P&L causes a negative balance in a specific asset, the system will automatically borrow the required amount. KuCoin provides an interest-free borrowing limit, where no interest will be charged on borrowing due to unrealized P&L within that limit.

  4.  Borrowing Types

    Debt: Represents the actual negative equity in your account.

    Potential Borrowing: Refers to the additional borrowing that would be incurred if your open pending orders are filled. Before these orders are executed, the system pre-occupies this amount. Potential borrowing is subject to borrowing margin requirements.

II. Interest Calculation

  1. How Interest Is Calculated

    Interest is charged every hour, based on the liability amount at the top of the hour.

    For futures unrealized P&L-generated liability, if it falls within the interest-free limit, no interest will be charged.

    Potential borrowing does not accrue borrowing interest.

    When the total borrowed amount across your master's and sub-accounts reaches or exceeds the UID's total borrowing limit, an excess penalty interest rate will be applied. The penalty interest is calculated hourly as follows:
    Hourly Penalty Interest = Total Borrowed Amount (UID Level) × Hourly Interest Rate × (Total Master/Sub Borrowed / Total UID Borrowing Limit)³

    Note: The penalty interest rate applies to the calculation for each UID.
  2. Interest Rates

    Interest rates vary by asset and are adjusted dynamically based on market conditions.

    For the latest rates, refer to the Borrowing/Lending Rate Table in Classic Margin Trading. You can also retrieve the current rates via the corresponding API endpoint.

  3. Interest Deduction

    The system will first deduct interest from your available account balance.

    If the balance is insufficient, interest will be added to your borrowing liabilities.

    Example of Liability Interest
    Assume the USDT interest-free amount is 2,000 USDT, and the hourly interest rate is 0.01%. User A currently has 10,000 USDT in unrealized PNL-generated liabilities.
    Hourly Interest = (Liability - Interest-Free Amount) × Hourly Interest Rate = (10,000 − 2,000) × 0.01% = 0.8 USDT
  4. Interest-Free Amount

    In Cross Margin mode under the Multi-Currency Margin Account, unrealized PNL from futures positions is covered by an interest-free allowance. Any liabilities arising from unrealized losses within this allowance will not accrue interest.

    You can retrieve the remaining interest-free allowance through the interestFreeBorrowLimit field in the API response.

III. Repayment Rules
  1. Automatic or Manual Repayment

    When you deposit, transfer in, or buy a liability asset, repayment will be automatically triggered.

  2. Forced Repayment
  • The system checks the borrowing limits every 5 minutes.
  • If your borrowing exceeds your personal borrowing limit but remains below 140% of the limit, the excess amount will incur penalty interest. If your borrowing remains above 100% of your personal borrowing limit continuously for 24 hours, the excess amount will be automatically swapped and repaid. You can view your personal borrowing limit on the Trading Info → Margin → Margin Risk Limit page. Alternatively, you can retrieve it from the borrowLimitTotal field in the API response.
  • If the platform’s total borrowing limit is surpassed, users with excessive borrowings will be selected for automatic repayment.
  • If account risk ratio is too high, forced liquidation may occur, and the system will automatically sell assets to repay the borrowed amount.

IV. Reminders
  • It is recommended to regularly monitor borrowing conditions and interest rate fluctuations to prevent excessive interest accumulation.
  • Proper use of the borrowing feature can enhance capital efficiency, but be mindful of the risks involved.
  • It is advisable to maintain adequate margin during volatile market conditions to prevent forced repayment.

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