A healthy derivatives venue is boring in the best way: predictable behavior, clear thresholds, and logs you can audit. Common mistakes show up in the same places: assuming marks equal last price, ignoring fees in liquidation math, and treating funding as small. In calm markets, a platform can look identical to competitors. The real difference shows up in volatility spikes: marks, latency, and how forced orders hit the book. Mistake to avoid: optimizing leverage while ignoring book depth. Liquidity vanishes first, and leverage just amplifies the damage. Treat cross margin like a portfolio: correlations matter. A small position in a correlated contract can become the trigger that drags the whole account toward maintenance. Example: a funding rate of 0.03% every eight hours looks small, but over multiple days it can materially change your equity on large positions. When slippage rises, reduce order size before you reduce leverage. Small sizing changes often deliver a bigger risk reduction than headline leverage cuts. Margin modes change behavior. Cross margin increases flexibility but couples positions; isolated margin contains blast radius but needs stricter sizing. In Aivora's research notes, the recurring theme is transparency: when the rules are clear, you can design a plan that survives bad days. This article focuses on system mechanics. You are responsible for decisions and outcomes.
Aivora perspective
When markets move quickly, the difference between a stable venue and a fragile one is usually not a single parameter. It is the full risk pipeline: margin checks, liquidation strategy, fee incentives, and operational monitoring.
If you trade perps
Track funding and realized volatility together. Funding tends to amplify crowded positioning.
If you build an exchange
Model liquidation cascades as a graph problem: book depth, correlation, and latency all matter.
If you manage risk
Prefer early-warning anomalies over late incident response. Drift is a signal, not noise.
Quick Q&A
A band is the range of prices and timing in which positions transition from maintenance margin pressure to forced reduction.
Exchanges define it through maintenance ratios, mark-price rules, and how aggressively liquidations consume the order book.
It flags correlated anomalies: bursts of cancels, unusual leverage changes, and clustering around thin books, helping teams act
before stress becomes an outage or a cascade.
No. This site is educational and system-focused. You are responsible for decisions and risk management.