Multi-Collateral Margin on Synthetix Mainnet

One Portfolio. Infinite Possibilities.

Synthetix is bringing perps to Ethereum Mainnet in Q4 2025, and one of the most important features at launch will be multi-collateral margin. Traders will be able to post a portfolio of assets as margin, including yield-bearing collateral, keeping those assets productive while they trade, or even between trades.

Ethereum is the natural home for a feature-rich perp dex. It’s where DeFi has the deepest liquidity, with more than $90B locked across lending markets, staking protocols, and liquidity pools. That depth and composability open the door to a variety of margin assets not possible on other chains, all without Synthetix spending a dime on liquidity incentives or asking users to bridge.

What’s possible with multi-collateral? Let’s break down one of the most compelling features of the upcoming Synthetix Mainnet and how it benefits every user of the platform.

Supported Collaterals at Launch

At launch, Synthetix will support three major collateral types:

sUSDe – Ethena’s yield-bearing synthetic USD stablecoin, frequently achieving double-digit yield through a basis-trading strategy. See current yields on DefiLlama.
wstETH – Lido’s liquid staked ETH, which accrues staking yield in ETH. See current yields on DefiLlama.
cbBTC – Coinbase’s Wrapped Bitcoin, providing BTC exposure, unlocking massive potential liquidity, and enabling efficient BTC basis-trading.

These assets are just the start. Synthetix Mainnet architecture can support nearly any ERC-20 with sufficient liquidity on Ethereum.

Margin That Works for You

So how can traders benefit from these assets? While each margin type and strategy has unique risk, let’s explore some common approaches to using multi-collateral. Please remember these descriptions are not recommendations, and each trader should develop their own approach on an individual basis.

Exposure from Spot, Perps, or Both

With multi-collateral, you don’t need to sell ETH, BTC, or sUSDe exposure to trade. You can margin these assets directly, retaining upside and yield while opening perp positions. That means:

Smarter margin choices: use ETH or BTC as margin when funding rates are high, reducing costs.
Yield while you trade: stable collateral like sUSDe or staking assets like wstETH continue to earn even when deployed as margin.
Avoid unnecessary capital gains: Trade perps without the need to sell your assets and trigger a taxable event.

More Efficient Basis Trades

Multi-collateral unlocks powerful arbitrage opportunities. For example, a trader can deposit wstETH and use it as margin to short ETH perps in equal size. The result is a delta-neutral position where collateral gains and position PnL offset, reducing liquidation risk while stacking rewards:

Staking yield from wstETH.
Positive funding payments from the short.

This makes basis trades more profitable and ensures tighter, more competitive funding markets across the exchange. Since basis traders keep funding rates in check, every trader on the exchange benefits when basis traders can be more profitable and efficient.

Advanced DeFi Strategies

Because Synthetix is built on Ethereum, traders can combine perps with the most liquid DeFi protocols. Strategies like looping on Aave—borrowing against yield-bearing collateral to arbitrage the spread between funding rates and borrowing costs—become much simpler to manage without the need to rely on bridges. With the most liquid lending markets in DeFi, Ethereum enables layered strategies that simply aren’t possible elsewhere.

Tapping Into Billions in Idle Capital

The opportunity on Ethereum is massive. Lido’s wstETH alone represents over $15 billion in staked ETH. Coinbase’s wrapped assets, including cbBTC, are onboarding billions more in institutional liquidity from other chains. Even a fraction of this capital used as margin can represent an enormous opportunity for Synthetix as we lead the way in building high-performance products directly on Ethereum.

The ability to add new ERC-20 tokens as Synthetix scales opens the door to new partnerships with core Ethereum communities, allowing perps on Ethereum to sit alongside lending markets as a critical tool in an Ethereum user’s toolkit for adding leverage, hedging, and building custom payoffs.

Though Synthetix has changed over the years, our core mission to build powerful tools for the Ethereum community has remained. Now, more than ever, Ethereum builders must come together to build the new financial system we’ve all envisioned. Synthetix is ready.