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Your RFQ account holds USDC in Joyride’s on-chain margin vault. The exchange calculates the collateral needed for your positions and proposed trades. The amount changes with the portfolio and market inputs.

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Free and locked collateral

Your account has a free balance and a locked balance. A fill can spend USDC on premium and fees and move free USDC into locked collateral to back short-option obligations. A positive free balance alone does not prove that a trade is affordable. Before execution, the exchange checks both parties against the cash debit, trading fee, and any additional collateral lock:
Premium received on that same fill cannot fund its fee or collateral increase. Fund the account before quoting or accepting a package that needs either.

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Portfolio margin evaluates the package together

For a portfolio-margin account, the risk model reprices positions under configured moves in spot and implied volatility. It takes the worst scenario loss, adds short-option and concentration charges, and applies a minimum margin floor. A proposed package is evaluated with all its legs together against the existing portfolio. This lets the calculation recognize protection from a spread’s long leg. The initial reservation is the increase in the portfolio requirement, floored at zero, plus the configured initial-margin buffer.
The risk policy assigned to the account determines the scenarios and parameters. The system also supports standard-margin accounts, which reserve against short legs without cross-leg offsets. Do not assume every account has the same policy or a fixed percentage requirement. A risk-reducing trade does not automatically release collateral locked by earlier fills. The fill adds any required reservation to the existing lock. Settlement releases the lock associated with the expiring positions.

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Signed ceilings bound what you authorize

A quote or acceptance includes a maximum trading fee and a maximum total post-fill locked balance. These are USDC amounts. The lock maximum is a total for the account after the fill, not the amount to add. The exchange refuses a quote or acceptance whose signed ceilings are below the current requirement. The on-chain fill also enforces them. A valid signature does not let the exchange raise either ceiling on your behalf. A writer’s stored collateral ceiling also bounds later standalone lock increases. See Signed maxima for the requirement fields and tolerance calculation.

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Maintenance and changing markets

Maintenance margin measures the portfolio requirement as prices change. Account equity includes free and locked USDC plus the marked value of the positions. Buying power, locked collateral, and maximum possible loss are different measures. Keep enough collateral to support your exposure through price moves. A delivered quote remains firm until its expiry even if the market moves against it. A missing or stale risk input can prevent a quote or fill. This guide does not specify the process for an account whose equity falls below maintenance margin. Confirm breach handling with support@joyride.exchange before running a quoting strategy.

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Read the account and settlement result

Use GET /api/query/vault-subaccount for free and locked balances and GET /api/query/rfq-positions for positions. Reconcile fills and finality before calculating new exposure. Settlement explains expiry payouts, lock release, and shortfall handling. Pricing and Greeks distinguishes display model prices from the marks used by risk.