Synthetix: mainnet perpetuals, USDT settlement and account authority

The current Synthetix exchange trades perpetual futures on Ethereum Mainnet, using an off-chain central limit order book and on-chain settlement. Its hybrid execution architecture is the relevant service here. Earlier Synthetix infrastructure powered several other trading applications and operated on other networks; their historical product lists and liquidity should not be assumed to describe today’s native exchange. A perpetual provides price exposure without delivering the underlying asset and remains subject to funding and liquidation.[1][20]

Market size conventions matter before placing an order. The published specifications give BTC a 0.001 BTC minimum and a 1 USDT price tick; ETH uses 0.01 ETH and 0.1 USDT, while SOL uses 0.1 SOL and 0.01 USDT. Each market also has order-size and open-interest limits. These are the published document’s specifications, not a claim that every market was accepting new risk at the instant this profile was written.[2]

The chase option adjusts a limit towards the best bid for a buy or best ask for a sell, within its settings. It changes an order’s price over time rather than locking in one permanent price. Stop-limit instructions may protect an acceptable price but remain unfilled during a rapid move; a market-style stop prioritises access to available liquidity and can incur slippage. A displayed liquidation estimate therefore should not be read as the price at which a stop will certainly close the position.[3][4]

Fees apply to the notional value of each executed fill. For an illustrative regular-tier trade, a 15,000 USDT taker entry costs 7.50 USDT and an equal-notional maker exit costs 3 USDT: 15,000 × 0.0005 plus 15,000 × 0.0002 = 10.50 USDT. Taking liquidity on both legs instead costs 15 USDT. The example excludes referrals, funding, spread, slippage and gas, and assumes unchanged notional. Depositing a smaller margin amount does not reduce the fee’s notional base.[6]

Funding illustration: if a constant 20,000 USDT position faces a positive 0.01% eight-hour rate, the corresponding hourly amount is 20,000 × 0.0001 ÷ 8 = 0.25 USDT. Maintaining both assumptions for 24 hours gives 6 USDT, paid by the long and received by the short. This is an illustration of the published calculation, not a forecast: rates, position value and direction can change. Funding settles in USDT and can contribute to a negative USDT balance when collateral is mainly WETH.[8]

The regular tier allows 10 open orders per market and 50 overall; Tier 1 allows 15 and 75; Tier 2 allows 25 and 150. Tiers 6 and 7 allow 200 per market and 1,000 overall. Tier 1 expands capacity without reducing the basic trading rates.[7]

The deposit guide identifies Ethereum Mainnet as the funding network. The selected subaccount receives the tokens; collateral does not automatically spread across other subaccounts. USDT is credited at face value while WETH receives a risk-adjusted collateral value. Minimums, maximums and account caps are shown by asset in the interface, so a universal minimum deposit would be misleading. Wallet gas requires ETH separately from the token amount being deposited.[9]

WETH collateral is not a promise to withdraw the same value in USDT. Its margin contribution can support positions while the account has little USDT available to send. Positive unrealised profit may support some USDT withdrawals, but token balances and health checks still apply. Withdrawing collateral also reduces the remaining buffer supporting open positions. A successful deposit, a positive total-equity figure and an immediately withdrawable amount are three different account states.[10]

The debt calculation first offsets a negative USDT balance with positive unrealised PnL. Closing a winning position can change that relationship; closing all positions does not automatically repay remaining debt. If debt exceeds the permitted amount, auto-exchange can sell non-USDT collateral without another confirmation. The allowed amount is constrained by asset-specific liquidation loan-to-value limits and the account tier’s maximum borrowing capacity. The Borrowing tab is therefore relevant even for a trader who never deliberately selected a separate loan product.[11]

Synthetix describes wallet-based access and Ethereum settlement. However, off-chain order matching, exchange account state and the settlement contracts remain dependencies. A wallet signature proves authority for a particular action; it does not certify the venue’s solvency, code correctness or ability to fill an order. The exchange’s non-custodial presentation should be read together with its documented account roles and liquidation mechanisms.[1]

Revoking a delegate removes a person’s future trading authority; it is not evidence that existing exposure has disappeared. Review positions and remaining orders separately when ending an arrangement. The June 2026 developer changelog also removes subaccount creation from delegates, reserving it for owners or managers. That is why an old integration description saying that every authorised trader can create accounts should not be relied on for current permissions.[16][28]

Collateral haircuts create an additional source of liquidation risk. The published example uses 5 WETH at 3,000 USDT with a 10% haircut, producing 13,500 USDT of collateral value. If the price falls to 2,400, the value becomes 10,800 USDT, a reduction of 2,700 without any change in the perpetual position. The percentage is an illustrative haircut from the guide, not a promised universal current setting. Margin is based on adjusted value rather than the raw token balance.[12]

The ADL indicator uses five relative buckets. Its top bucket represents the highest fifth of scores for that market and side; it is not a probability of a loss or a guarantee that other buckets cannot be affected. A trader can therefore face a forced reduction while profitable, through another account’s unresolved shortfall. This mechanism protects the system by reallocating risk and should not be described as customer insurance.[14]

The terms require age 18 or the higher local age of majority and contractual capacity. They prohibit sanctioned users and people located in, or citizens or residents of, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan, or Russian-occupied Donetsk, Luhansk or Crimea. Other comprehensive US embargoes and local-law restrictions also apply; connecting a wallet does not establish eligibility.[23]

Tier 1 permits additional subaccounts. The account guide says four subaccounts, while the tier table lists five, apparently using different counting conventions. The current account screen should confirm the available number. Each account needs its own collateral allocation before supporting a strategy.[15][7]

History exports cover trades, orders, funding, profit and loss, deposits/withdrawals and collateral exchanges. The selected columns affect the exported file, so include identifiers such as Order ID when an audit trail needs them. A download covering only fills can miss borrowing-related collateral sales or funding. Legacy records may require support and may be incomplete. The documented CSV facility is useful evidence of reporting access; it is not a promise that a tax filing can be prepared without further reconciliation.[18]

For an interrupted API session, distinguish a communication timeout from an executed instruction. The WebSocket guide calls for heartbeats and reconnection, including a 24-hour maximum session duration. After reconnecting, query the actual account and order state before retrying a request whose result was uncertain. Session expiry is a transport event, not an inactivity fee or proof that open positions were closed.[27]

Disputes first go to [email protected]. The exchange terms specify a 60-day informal-resolution period before ICC arbitration, with Panama governing law and individual-claim restrictions. This contractual route is separate from the support chat.[23]

Molon Labe Inc., a Panamanian corporation, is the counterparty named in the current exchange terms. The agreement states that no deposit-protection scheme covers the service. No independently verified derivatives authorisation is entered here, and no investor-compensation entitlement is inferred from the company’s incorporation.[23]

The 420 retirement guide separates former stakers without debt from those with outstanding obligations. It also describes a 26 June 2026 sUSD snapshot and a future SNX conversion claim window opening 26 June 2027. Snapshot inclusion can differ for assets held through pools, vaults or other contracts. These are legacy recovery and entitlement processes, not settlement rules for a new USDT perpetual trade. Someone returning to the brand should establish the network, contract and account history before interpreting an old token balance.[22]

Operator

Molon Labe Inc.

Exchange model

Hybrid

Service scope

Native Ethereum Mainnet perpetual exchange; off-chain CLOB and on-chain settlement.

Client types

Retail clients; Professional clients; Institutional clients

Pricing publication

Public pricing

Funding scope

Ethereum USDT/WETH; debt and health checks; no extra documented withdrawal queue.

Custody and asset handling

Wallet-based contract collateral; cross-margin isolated by subaccount; owner, manager and delegate roles.

Client eligibility

18+ or higher local majority; excludes Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan and Russian-occupied Donetsk/Luhansk/Crimea under location, citizenship or residence tests; sanctions and local law also apply.

Support

Documentation chat with AI and human escalation, history exports, public status API and formal dispute email.

Authorisation and registration scope

No verified derivatives authorisation entered; no deposit-protection scheme stated.

Exchange metadata checked 21 Oct 2026Source 1Source 9Source 10Source 17Source 23

REST and WebSocket interfaces cover market information and trading operations. Authentication uses EIP-712 signatures over structured actions, with nonces and optional request expiry. The server then checks the signer’s permissions. A developer’s access to prices is therefore distinct from authority to place an order, manage a subaccount or initiate a withdrawal. Delegation should be assessed by the particular role and account, not by the generic label API access.[25][24]

TWAP controls can vary child sizes and intervals; execution remains a sequence of separate trades, not a single guaranteed average-price transaction. The May 2026 changelog says cancelling a TWAP parent also cancels in-flight child chunks. Already completed fills remain part of the account’s exposure and history. A cancellation confirmation should be reconciled against position size and fills, especially when a strategy was interrupted midway.[5][28]

The published referral programme offers a 5% trading-fee discount to an eligible referee and a 25% share of referred fees to the referrer. Referral rewards update daily and require at least 50 dollars before a claim; the code must be supplied during account creation. A fee discount reduces a cost. An accumulated reward below the claim threshold is not the same as money already transferred to a wallet.[29]

Snaxpot converts qualifying trading fees into draw entries, with one ticket for each 2 dollars of fees. A ticket has no guaranteed payout: rewards depend on matched numbers and are paid in USDT to the trading account after the draw. The guide lists staking multipliers as forthcoming. Neither a possible draw reward nor a planned multiplier should be counted as an assured reduction in the cost of trading.[30]