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Main Takeaways
Binance Futures displays three types of balances: total balance, wallet balance, and margin balance, each crucial for understanding a user's trading activity.
On Binance Futures, you can refer to your transaction history for a comprehensive overview of all operations linked to your futures wallet balance.
Trading fees, Insurance Clearance Fees, and Funding Fees are some of the reasons why you may find discrepancies in your balances.
While interacting on Binance Futures, users may encounter different types of balances displayed on their accounts. These balances are essential indicators of the user's trading activity on the platform.
Understanding each type of balance and how they relate to one another can help you effectively manage trading strategies and avoid unnecessary losses.
The futures wallet on Binance Futures displays four different types of balances: wallet balance, available balance, margin balance, and total balance. Each balance serves a specific purpose and reflects the user's available funds, profits, and losses.
This article breaks down the different types of balances and the information it conveys to the user. Please note that it focuses on the futures wallet balance of a user’s account and does not relate to the spot or funding wallet balances.
What Is Wallet Balance?
The wallet balance represents the total value of the cryptocurrency held in a user's futures wallet.
Opening new positions will not affect a user’s wallet balance. Opening positions require an initial margin, which is taken from the available balance. The wallet balance will change by either transferring funds in or out of the wallet. It will also change according to realized PNL, Funding Fees, liquidation, and commissions from rebates, rewards, or bonuses.
Wallet Balance = Total Net Transfer + Total Realized Profit + Total Net Funding Fee - Total Commission
The balance only reflects realized PNL and does not account for any unrealized profits or losses from open positions. In other words, the futures wallet balance only includes funds that are currently not being used as collateral.
What Is Available Balance?
The available balance on Binance Futures represents the funds a user can access to open new positions or meet margin requirements on existing positions.
To calculate the available balance, subtract the unrealized PNL and initial margin from the wallet balance, which refers to the total value of funds held in the Binance Futures wallet.
Available Balance = Wallet Balance - Initial Margin + Unrealized PNL
The unrealized PNL is the current profit or loss from open positions and can significantly affect the available balance. You can check your realized and unrealized PNL from the ‘Orders and Positions’ panel, located at the bottom of the futures trading interface. In the ‘Positions’ tab, you will be able to find the details of your open positions, including entry price, Mark Price, margin ratio, and unrealized PNL, amongst other relevant information.
What Is Margin Balance?
The margin balance is calculated by adding/subtracting the unrealized PNL of your open positions to/from your wallet balance. The margin balance reflects the funds used as a margin for holding your current positions. It's essential to differentiate between margin balance and wallet balance, as the former represents the amount of funds you have already used for holding open positions.
Margin Balance = Wallet Balance + Unrealized PNL
In other words, the margin balance represents the total funds that are presently being used as collateral for your open positions.
Liquidation is triggered when Margin Balance < Maintenance Margin.
What Is Total Balance?
The total balance comprises the sum of your wallet balance and margin balance, including unrealized profit and loss (PNL). It represents the account's overall value. It includes all the funds in your account, including those utilized as collateral for open positions.
An important thing to keep in mind is that the displayed dollar balance is an approximation. It may vary slightly from the actual balance due to fluctuations in cryptocurrency prices.
Misconceptions About Balance on Binance Futures
If you find it difficult to comprehend your balances or detect any discrepancies, consider the following steps.
Refer to your transaction history for a comprehensive overview of all operations linked to your futures wallet balance. Use it to double-check whether you have been liquidated, paid a Funding Fee or trading fee, transferred out funds, or incurred some loss, among other things.
Let’s look at some of the common reasons why you may find discrepancies in your balances:
Stop-market orders executed at different price
When you choose Mark Price as the trigger price while placing a stop-market order, the order will be executed instantly at the best available price. Nevertheless, the execution price of your order may vary from the stop price, particularly if there is a significant gap between the Mark Price and the Last Price.
Trading fees and Insurance Clearance Fees
To calculate your net profit accurately, ensure that you include the trading fees for both opening and closing the position.
In addition, when a user's position is liquidated, an Insurance Clearance Fee will be collected and added to the Insurance Fund. The Insurance Fund covers negative wallet balances and aims to ensure that all users receive their pay-out profits. This fee is recorded as ''Insurance Clearance'' in your transaction history.
Funding Fee
The Funding Fee is the amount that a trader pays or receives on perpetual futures contracts during a funding round. These fees are not paid to Binance, but between users to maintain stability in the market. When Funding Fees apply, they will be added or subtracted to/ from the available balance in your Futures Wallet. If your wallet balance is insufficient, it will be deducted from your position margin, which may also impact your liquidation price.
Negative balance
If your balance is negative or your position appears to be "stuck," click on the + sign beside ‘Margin’, as demonstrated in the image. If you're eligible, the issue will be resolved using the insurance fund.
No Available Balance on Futures Wallet
When trading on Binance Futures, you may find that you have no available balance in your account. If you encounter this issue, there are a few things you can check. Firstly, ensure that you do not have any open orders that are not reduce-only. Such orders could be reducing your available balance, so canceling them can help you regain access to your funds.
Another possibility is that you have open positions with negative profit, which can restrict your available balance. To resolve this, you can either add more margin to your account or reduce your open positions.
Lastly, if you have clicked on the "reduce-only" option, your available balance will show up as zero. This is the case when you do not have any positions for the specific trading pair you are placing an order for.
In this case, you can uncheck the "reduce-only" box, as shown in the picture, to restore your available balance.
By considering these factors and taking the necessary steps, you can ensure that your available balance remains accessible, allowing you to make informed trading decisions.
Further Reading
(Support) How to Check Futures Wallet Balance
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