Glossary

An index of terminology and technical information related to the Arkis application

Key Terms

• Collateral Asset: An asset used to secure a loan. Users deposit a Collateral Asset when they open a Margin Account on the Arkis Protocol.

• Borrowed Asset: The asset that is borrowed through the Arkis Protocol. For example, if the Borrowed Asset is USDT, all portfolio valuations for the initial and maintenance margins, as well as the Liquidation Price, are calculated in terms of USDT.

• Initial Margin: The minimum amount required to open a leverage position. For instance, to buy 10 wBTC with a 10x leverage, an initial margin of 1 wBTC is required, translating to a 10% initial margin requirement.

• Maintenance Margin: The minimum amount of collateral a user must maintain to keep their position open. This is a dynamic value that adjusts with the fluctuating market prices of assets and the total value of the user’s account.

• Liquidation Fee: A percentage fee collected by a Liquidator for executing the liquidation of a trader’s positions.

• Liquidation Premium: A margin of safety added to the Liquidation Price by an exchange or protocol to ensure that the total value of the assets liquidated at least matches the value of the borrowed amount.

• Liquidator: The party responsible for carrying out the liquidation process; in the context of Arkis, this role is performed by the Arkis Protocol itself.

• Mark Price: The price used to reflect the "true asset value" for calculating portfolio value, unrealized profit and loss, Liquidation Price, and Maintenance Margin requirements. Mark Price is defined separately for each asset whitelisted by the Arkis Protocol and is designed to prevent market price manipulations via mechanisms like flash loans and oracles.

• Mark-to-Market: A method whereby the fair values of accounts subject to periodic market fluctuations are measured. In trading contexts, this refers to the estimation of the current value of a position and its unrealized profit or loss based on current market prices.

• Liquidation: The process of selling off positions for cash to minimize losses, particularly in a market downturn. When an asset manager voluntarily closes their open positions to secure profits or reduce losses, this action is termed Liquidation.

• Forced Liquidation: The compulsory closure of a trader’s position when they fail to meet the margin requirements of their leveraged position, often due to a significant drop in the price of the underlying asset, leading to the partial or total loss of the trader's initial margin.