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A Hedge on Marks fixes an exchange rate today for a settlement that happens later. If you owe or expect a frontier-market currency in the future, a Hedge locks what that costs now, so a move in the rate between now and settlement doesn’t change your economics.

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Non-deliverable forwards

Each Hedge is a non-deliverable forward (NDF): a contract that fixes an exchange rate for a chosen tenor and cash-settles the difference at maturity. No local currency ever moves. At settlement, the difference between your fixed rate and the Marks reference rate is paid in USDC, in whichever direction it went. This is why you can hedge a currency without holding it or moving it across borders.

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Direction

A Hedge has a side, buy or sell, depending on which exposure you’re covering. The economics of each side, including the price and carry, are shown on every quote before you commit, so you can confirm the direction covers the right exposure.

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Tenor

The tenor is how far out the Hedge settles. Supported tenors are 1, 3, or 7 days. Each Hedge carries a maturity_at timestamp, its settlement date derived from the tenor at open. To change the maturity of an existing Hedge, you settle it and open a new one.

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Carry

Holding a Hedge accrues carry over its tenor. Carry is a daily rate applied to the notional, and it is signed: a positive number means you pay carry, a negative number means you earn it. A quote breaks carry out both as a daily figure and as the total over the full tenor, so the cost is clear before you open. On a live position, accrued carry is folded into your net P&L.

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Margin and fees

A Hedge is collateralized in USDC. Opening reserves two things from your balance:
  • Margin - a refundable deposit, currently around 5% of notional, that backs the position. It returns to your balance when you close, adjusted for P&L and carry.
  • Platform fee - the open and close fee, both reserved at open so closing costs you nothing extra.
A quote returns all of this as required_margin_usdc, platform_fee_usdc, and total_upfront_usdc.

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Settlement

At maturity a Hedge settles against the Marks reference rate and the outcome, margin plus net P&L net of carry and fees, returns to your USDC balance. You can also close early at any time before maturity, which settles at the current rate.

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One open Hedge per market and side

You hold at most one open Hedge on a given market and side. Opening a second on the same market and side returns 409 hedge_exists. To grow a position, add to the existing Hedge: the added notional nets into the same position at a size-weighted blended rate and inherits the original maturity.

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Exposure cap

Your account has an aggregate exposure cap, the maximum total open notional across all your Hedges. GET /account reports both the cap (max_exposure_usd) and the headroom remaining (available_exposure_usd). An open that would exceed the cap returns 400 exposure_exceeded.