🚦Limitations

Ensuring risk management for LPs while creating the best possible trading experience

Scaling Open Interest

As a margin trading protocol where traders are borrowing leverage from liquidity providers, we need to have a framework in place to ensure that liquidity scales across asset classes (crypto, forex and commodities) and traders in a fair and equitable manner. In order to make this happen, we scale open interest in the following ways:

1. First, the theoretical maximum open interest (Max OI) is set to 90% of total TVL across our market-making vaults. This ensures there is enough liquidity available for traders, while keeping a small buffer to facilitate smooth LP withdrawals if needed.

2. Second, we divide up this maximum open interest into its constituent asset classes. In the beginning, we offer crypto, forex and precious metals pairs, but over time, max OI will be shared with more commodities and other exotic asset products (like indices) as well. The OI per asset classes will always add up to 100%. Currently, the OI split looks as follows:

Maximum OI going to each asset class

1. Finally, we keep variable OI limits on pairs within each asset class. This is both a risk management and accessibility measure, as we don't want all available OI to be captured by only one pair. We will continuously monitor the LP and trader experience to fine-tune these parameters, and ensure both sets of users have the best possible experience. The per pair OI caps in each asset class need not add up to 100%.

Other Limitations

There are also two other limitations that are in place to ensure that TVL can scale for traders, while protecting liquidity providers

• Maximum Profit (%): In the beginning, we will limit trader PnL to +500%, meaning a trader can make at most 5x profits on their collateral (for any single position). Over time, as our market-making vaults generate enough buffer, we will scale up this metric

• Max Trades Per Pair: Set at 10 (across market and limit orders), to prevent bad actors from DDOS'ing the executor bots (and allowing organic limit orders to go through)

• Per Wallet OI Cap: In order to ensure that OI is spread evenly across traders and asset classes, we have the following OI caps on individual wallets (assessed at the time of opening a new trade)

Asset Class	Individual Wallet OI Cap (% of Asset Class OI)
Crypto	15%
Forex	15%
Metals	5%

• Minimum Collateral: In order to ensure that each order can be successfully executed in a decentralized manner, our network of keeper bots (Avantis and community bots) need to be incentivized to execute liquidations and limit orders. For that purpose, there is a minimum collateral requirement of $10.

Minimum Trade Duration

• After some research with contributors at Pyth Network, we've implemented an important UX change pertaining to the closing time of trades. This duration depends on your trade size (position size) and the type of asset you trade, and mostly affects scalpers (short term swing traders).

• On crypto blue chips (ETH, BTC, SOL), Memes (DOGE, SHIB, PEPE, BONK, WIF), Forex and metals pairs, there's no such limitations.

• On all other altcoins, there is a minimum trade duration of 3, 10 or 15 minutes, depending on duration. Higher trade sizes can have a minimum duration before which your trade cannot be closed. The minimum duration is 3 min, but 10 mins for trades ranging in the $5k-$50k size, and 15min for $50K +. But why?

• Avantis uses oracles for pricing, and a very important element here is that while Avantis trades do not have an impact on market prices, highly professional (and unethical) actors can manipulate orderbooks (and hence the Pyth price). Hence, this change is necessary to deter such traders! For genuine scalpers - you can still trade 30+ other assets, or trade altcoins in small-mid sizes!