When you trade on margin, the funds you borrow come from Bitso's lending pools: reserves Bitso keeps available for that purpose.

There is one pool per currency. When you borrow Tether (USDT), the amount comes out of the USDT pool. When you open a short position in Bitcoin (BTC), the Bitcoin comes out of the Bitcoin pool.

How borrowing works

You never request a loan manually. When you place a margin order that needs more funds than you hold:

1. Bitso checks that your account can safely take on the loan.
2. When the order fills, the borrowed amount moves from the pool into your Margin Wallet.
3. Your debt appears as a negative balance in that currency.

How repayment is applied

You decide when and how to repay. Whichever way you choose, the incoming amount is always applied in the same order:

1. Accrued interest is paid first.
2. Then the borrowed amount returns to the pool.
3. Anything left over stays in your Margin Wallet.

You do not need to split anything yourself. This happens instantly, every time you repay, in full or in part.

Example: you owe 2,000 USDT plus 15 USDT of accrued interest and you sell Bitcoin for 2,100 USDT. The first 15 USDT cover the interest, the next 2,000 return the borrowed amount to the pool, and the remaining 85 USDT stay in your Margin Wallet.

Interest

• Interest accrues every hour on your outstanding debt, per borrowed currency.
• You can check accrued interest in your Margin Wallet and in your transaction history.
• Interest counts as debt, so it lowers your Margin Level over time, even when prices do not move.

This means a position can drift toward liquidation without you placing a single trade and without the market moving against you, purely from how long it has stayed open.

What this means for you

• Availability depends on the pool. If the pool for a currency does not hold enough for your order size, the order cannot be placed.
• You always owe in the same currency you borrowed: borrow USDT, owe USDT; borrow Bitcoin, owe Bitcoin.
• Your collateral never leaves your Margin Wallet. The pool lends against it, it does not take it.