Do these 3 things before closing this tab:
1Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors2Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute3Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsBefore opening a position, verify the venue’s current eligibility rules, margin and liquidation mechanics, price feeds, trading costs, execution conditions, system dependencies and wallet permissions. These details differ by exchange, contract, market and jurisdiction; a displayed liquidation estimate or stop order is not a guaranteed exit.
1. Confirm that you can use the venue and product
Check the exchange’s current terms, risk disclosures, contract specifications and parameter pages before connecting a wallet or funding an account. Confirm both that the exchange is available where you live and that the specific futures or perpetual contract is available to you. Access restrictions and local tax obligations vary by jurisdiction and can change.
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- Look for eligibility, restricted-country and product-access terms.
- Read the risk disclosure and the contract’s specifications, not just the trading interface.
- Check whether the venue says its parameters can change and which publication or page controls if documents conflict.
Official materials illustrate why checking the actual market matters: 1024EX describes a dynamic risk framework in which its latest publications control, while MNX says exact limits vary by market. Those are venue-specific statements, not rules for every decentralized exchange.
2. Find out how collateral and margin work
Isolated or cross margin
With isolated margin, collateral is assigned to a particular position under the venue’s rules. Cross margin shares margin across positions, so losses in one position can affect the funds supporting others. Neither label alone tells you the full amount you could lose: read how the venue defines available equity, transfers between positions and any treatment of residual losses.
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Collateral valuation
Identify which tokens the contract accepts, how each is valued, whether a discount or haircut applies, and how often that valuation updates. If collateral can fall in value, a market move against your position and a drop in collateral value may weaken your margin at the same time. Check whether collateral can be converted automatically and what fees or rules govern that process.
Leverage and exposure
Compare the position’s notional exposure with the margin supporting it. Leverage magnifies losses as well as gains: a relatively small adverse move can consume a substantial share of the margin. Do not treat a venue’s maximum leverage setting as a safety rating or as a recommended position size.
3. Work out the liquidation path, not just the displayed price
A position may be closed automatically when its equity falls below a maintenance-margin threshold. The threshold and the steps that follow are venue- and market-specific, and a fast move or price gap can make execution worse than an estimate shown in advance.
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- Margin rules: Find the initial and maintenance margin requirements and the risk tiers that apply at your position size.
- Trigger price: Determine which price feed triggers liquidation and how the venue calculates it.
- Liquidation process: Check whether the venue reduces a position gradually or closes it outright, and how open orders are handled.
- Charges and shortfall: Read liquidation fees and the rules for an insurance fund, auto-deleveraging or any residual loss.
- Changing exposure: Check whether adding to a position or changing its size moves it into a different risk tier.
Use the venue’s current rules to estimate what could happen to your position; do not interpret the displayed liquidation level as a promised exit price.
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4. Identify the prices that control risk
“Price” can mean several different things on a futures platform. The index price represents an underlying reference assembled from data sources; the mark price may be used for margin or liquidation; the last-traded price reflects the most recent trade; and a stop trigger may use one of these or another specified price. They can differ.
Read the venue’s documentation for the index constituents, data sources, update frequency, freshness requirements, outlier filters and fallback behavior. Find out which price is used for margin checks and liquidation, and which price is shown for profit and loss or used to trigger conditional orders. Stale or incorrect feeds, or network disruptions, may affect risk checks or pause some actions.
5. Add up costs over the time you expect to hold
A favorable move in the underlying does not guarantee a profitable trade after costs. Check every charge that could apply to the instrument and your route in and out:
- Trading fees: Maker and taker rates, including any conditions or tiers that change them.
- Funding: The formula, interval and current sign convention—whether longs or shorts pay, or receive, under the venue’s stated rules. Funding varies over time and can become a meaningful holding cost or payment.
- Liquidation charges: Whether a liquidation fee applies and how it is calculated.
- Collateral and transfers: Borrowing costs, conversion charges and chain fees for deposits or withdrawals, where applicable.
Use the venue’s current fee schedule and funding information for the specific contract; do not assume a rate will remain constant throughout a position.
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6. Check whether you can execute at your intended size
Liquidity is instrument- and condition-specific. Inspect current order-book depth at the size you intend to trade, the spread and the likely slippage for both entry and exit. A market that looks liquid for a small order may not be liquid enough for a larger one, especially during volatile conditions.
- Check which order types the venue supports and whether they can partially fill.
- Read about price bands, trading halts and how cancellations behave during congestion or disruption.
- Understand whether a stop is a trigger for a later order or otherwise subject to execution conditions.
“No order type, including stop-loss, can guarantee a fill at a specific price.” — 7.Exchange, Risk Disclosure, last updated September 2, 2026.
A stop can therefore fail to execute at the trigger price—or at any particular price—when the market moves quickly or liquidity is limited.
7. Trace what happens on chain and what depends on operators
“Decentralized” does not by itself tell you how each part of a trading system works. Map the path from placing an order to settlement and withdrawal. Some venues use off-chain matching with on-chain settlement; others may have different designs. Find out which actions rely on smart contracts, operators, keepers, bridges or external services, and what happens if one of those components is unavailable.
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- Verify contract addresses using the venue’s official materials and the relevant chain explorer.
- Check which contracts have been audited, what the audit covered and when it was completed. An audit is evidence about a stated scope, not a guarantee against loss.
- Identify who can upgrade contracts or use emergency controls, and under what conditions.
- Review incident notices and the venue’s stated withdrawal process, including any dependencies or pause conditions.
8. Secure the wallet and review approvals
Use the venue’s official domain and check the chain, token and transaction details before signing. Never share a seed phrase or private key. Review wallet token approvals and revoke permissions you no longer need, using a method appropriate to the chain and token.
A hardware wallet can help protect key custody, but it cannot prevent every harmful approval, protocol failure, bad execution or trading loss. Verify that any wallet you use supports the chain and tokens involved; no wallet removes exchange or market risk.
9. Plan for disruption before you open a position
Decide what you can do if the chain is congested, the interface is unavailable, the oracle is stale, withdrawals are paused or liquidation occurs while you cannot transact. Check whether there is an alternative supported route for managing the position and whether that route depends on the same services. Size a position so an adverse outcome is tolerable; an alert or stop order should not be treated as guaranteed protection.
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If you are choosing between exchanges, compare the same contract and trade size where possible. Record the venue’s current documentation for each item rather than relying on a single headline measure such as maximum leverage.
| Compare | What to record |
|---|---|
| Custody and settlement | What is on chain, what relies on operators or other services, and the withdrawal path. |
| Collateral and margin | Accepted collateral, valuation rules, and cross- or isolated-margin behavior. |
| Liquidation | Trigger, process, charges, open-order treatment and handling of any residual loss. |
| Price feeds | Index sources, freshness and fallback rules, and which price controls risk checks. |
| Costs | Maker/taker fees, funding formula and history, liquidation charges and relevant transfer costs. |
| Execution | Spread, depth and slippage at the same intended size, plus order and cancellation behavior. |
| Controls and track record | Audit scope and dates, upgrade and emergency authority, incident notices and withdrawal history. |
| Eligibility | Whether the venue and specific contract are available to you under current terms and local rules. |
A practical pre-trade record
Before placing an order, write down the contract, intended size, collateral, margin mode, relevant liquidation rules, price source, expected fees and funding basis, and your plan if the interface or chain becomes unavailable. Confirm those details against the venue’s current pages rather than carrying assumptions from another market or exchange. 7.Exchange’s product documentation was last updated September 16, 2026; its risk disclosure was last updated September 2, 2026. Documentation dates do not guarantee that a parameter remains unchanged, so check live terms and contract settings when you trade.
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