Execution & Venue Status
We select venues on execution contract first and fees second. Current status:
Blofin
Exited — withdrawal integrity failure- 21 Jul 2026 — API/position-suspension incident on managed accounts (root-cause writeup published at the time).
- Aug 2026 — Withdrawals frozen on client accounts pending retroactive KYC: a requirement that did not exist at onboarding, on a venue marketed as no-KYC. Observed to be selective — profitable accounts gated while other accounts withdrew freely.
- 11 Aug 2026 — The venue stated in writing to a profitable managed account: “Please be advised that only principal withdrawal is supported.” Original deposit returnable; trading profits retained by the exchange, presented as resolution of a risk-control review.
The stated justification was a high-risk deposit source. Note the inversion: if the deposit were the problem, the principal is the flagged money — the profits, generated on-venue after deposit, are the clean part. A compliance hold freezes everything pending review; it does not offer to return the allegedly risky funds while retaining the clean ones. We publish the documents and let readers draw their own conclusions.
If you hold funds there
- Complete verification promptly.
- Withdraw when permitted.
- Before accepting any principal-only offer, reply in writing: “I accept the principal transfer without prejudice to my claim for the remaining balance.”
- Retain all tickets, emails and balance screenshots.
Structural context: Why no-KYC exchanges B-book — a structural note.
HyperliquidGrid-only SMA — open
Our core systems are hedged — long and short legs held simultaneously on the same contract. Hyperliquid does not support hedge mode, which removes the hedging strategy class entirely rather than degrading it. We now accept Hyperliquid SMAs under a separate mandate: screened, long-only oscillation grids only. Those grids are unhedged and can accumulate inventory and drawdown in a sustained decline. Read the grid-only mandate.
Which venues we allocate to
The full three-tier model — approved, probe only and not supported — is maintained on the Derivatives API page, sourced from the Exchange Quality Report.
Why no-KYC exchanges B-book — a structural note
A venue that cannot identify its users cannot readily access regulated banking, prime brokerage or external hedging counterparties. Order flow that cannot be hedged externally is internalised: the venue takes the other side. Under that model a consistently profitable account is a direct liability on the venue's own book, not a source of fee revenue.
The observable signature is asymmetry at the withdrawal layer rather than at the trading layer: fills are normal, balances update normally and the friction appears only when profits leave. Retroactive verification requirements, account-specific reviews and settlement offers are the mechanisms through which that asymmetry is expressed.
Blofin example: on 11 Aug 2026 a profitable managed account was offered principal-only withdrawal — original deposit returnable, trading profits retained — following a retroactive KYC hold on a venue marketed as no-KYC. See the dated incident record above.
Important Legal Disclosure
Margin Syndicate Limited (Company No. 12870584, England and Wales) is a software and systems firm. We are not an investment adviser, portfolio manager, broker or custodian and we are not authorised or registered by the Financial Conduct Authority.
We do not custody client funds in any service model.